Full text of "Reminiscences of military service in the Forty-third regiment, Massachusetts infantry, during the great Civil war, 1862-63"

See other formats

^c M. L.

)73.74
S38rog
L755376

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION

I Go

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRAR

3 1833 00825 0596

7 4
Og

:;7<

EEMDJISCEXCES OF MILITARY SERVICE
THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

fflassatfmsctts £nf antra,

mZSJNO-JaK-fi^EAXJirnL WAfi, 1862-63.

By EDWARD II. ROGERS,

COMPANY H, CHELSEA, MASS.

S>S S So. L. / \ ' *■ •

BOSTON:
FRANKLIN PRESS : RAND, AVERY, & CO.

1SS3.

i F

I 8349
1.469

Dawes
F

8349
.469

Rogers, Edward Homy, 1824-

Reminiscences of military service in the Forty-third regi-
ment, Massachusetts infantrv, during the great Civil war, 18G2-
03. By Edward II. Rogers,* Company U, Chelsea, Muss. Bos-
ton, Franklin press, Rand, Avery, & co., 1883.

210 p. front., illus., plates. 2:',}=".

Title vignette.

Appendix: a. Historical portion oft'
on the presentation of the colors of the
panics composing the Forty-third regin

address of Ron. It. C. VTintbrop
irty-tliird. n. Roster of the coin-
t, M. V. M.

1. Massachusetts infantry. 43d re-t., 1SI52-1SC3. 2. 17. S.— Hist.— Civil
war— Regimental histories— Mass. inf.— 43d. r. Title.

another

Library of Congress

Gcony.
Eol3.").-13

[41fl,

-18S3

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012

http://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofmOOroge

t'i

fir-

CAMP ROGERS.
iDQUARTERS OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M. V. M.

with the Field and Staff.

j Newbern N. C

PREFACE.

rr^IIE veterans of Chelsea who served in the First, the Thirty-
~*~ fifth, and the Fortieth Regiments, have n right to ask why
this book precedes the record of their own memorable deeds. In
answer, it may be said that its separate issue was not decided
upon until after a persistent effort had been made to unite with
others in the compilation of a complete military history of our city
during the war. This was found to be, at present, impracticable.
The effort, however, has resulted in the preparation by the various
interested parties of a large part of the material for such a history.
It is still confidently hoped, that, before many years elapse, our
community will be favored with its publication.

There are, however, sufficient reasons why this history of the
Forty-third should be given to the public without the abridgment
to which it must have been subjected if bound with others. The
regiment was a fairly representative organization of the " nine-
months men" of Massachusetts. Very little has been written
concerning this levy of troops. Our fields of action in North
Carolina and Louisiana were distant, and slightly known ; and our
operations seemed insignificant in comparison with the marches
and battles of Virginia and the Central States.

I have shown that we were really an outpost of the great army
which threatened Richmond. Not a movement could take place in
Virginia without affecting us ; and the fact foreshadowed the grand

4 PREFACE.

combinations which took place around Goldsborough at the close
of the war.

The loss of the coast of North Carolina was a great disaster to
the Confederacy. It is reckoned that it cost us a hundred millions
of dollars to capture and defend it. But it proved to be worth that
sum. Its secure possession by the Union forces throughout the
war, in spite of several determined efforts to recapture it, enabled
Gen. Sherman to shape his northward course without opposition,
except in the open field. Not even a single fort hindered him, ns
at Savannah, from effecting a union at Goldsborough with our
troops from Newbern, who left an open passage to the sea behind
them. United with the forces of Gen. SchoQeld from Wilming-
ton, the great army carried despair into the hearts of the rebels.
With Grant victorious, and Sherman close at hand, resistance was
hopeless.

All this would have been changed for the worse, if Burnside's
fleet had waited until the spring of 1865. It is with some degree
of satisfaction, then, that I look back to the eight months of the
darkest period of the war, during which the security of this vital
point depended very largely upon the militia of Massachusetts.

My thanks are specially due to Col. Whiton, Major Lane, and
Lieut. Turner, our quartermaster, for counsel and assistance. Nor
can I omit, in this connection, our recently deceased comrade,
Chaplain Manning, whose interest was very marked. It will be
seen that I have quoted freely from his letters to "The Boston
Journal," over the signature of "Old South," of which church he
was the pastor. The same acknowledgments should be made to
Capt. Hanover and Orderly Edmunds, with otber comrades of
the company.

Henry Mason, Esq., editor of " The Pioneer," has placed our
community under obligations for the generous manner in which his
paper has been put at my disposal, not onl}- for the first printing
of this work, but also for much fuller reference to its files than
appears here. I have thought it best not to change the familiar
forms of expression which were used in the original publication.

PREFACE.

I had prepared most of the material which is quoted, with a
view to placing it in the hands of some one of sufficient leisure,
and more competent than myself. That it does not still lie in-
waiting for such a person is because diligent search has failed to
discover any one who has the two requisites.

Nearly twenty years have passed siuce the war closed. Several
attempts at a permanent record of the deeds of the soldiers and
sailors of Chelsea have proved abortive. Under these circum-
stances, I ask a friendly judgment for my own imperfect efforts,
and also for those who may follow me.

Reluctant, for various reasons, to assume responsibility in so
important a matter, my reserve has been overcome, first by the
encouragement, and then by the approval, of our highest local
authority in literary matters, that of Judge Chamberlain. The
action of Theodore Winthrop Post 35, G. A. R., in placing this,
and even more honorable duties of the same kind, under my con-
trol, has also cheered me with the appreciative support of my
associates in arms.

To the group of public-spirited citizens of Chelsea who met the
first request for funds with such liberality as to insure success, I
return my grateful thanks.

E. II. R.

Chelsea, Mass., Dec. lb, 1832.

OONTEMS.

CHAPTER I.

The Chelsea Rifle Corps. — Cessation of Recruiting. — National Disasters.

— The Sabbath Enlistment. — General Statement of the Services of
the Company and Regiment.— War Speeches in the Square. — Note
from Capt. Hanover. — War Circular. — Patriotic Ballad, " Six Hun-
dred Thousand more." — Choice of Officers. — First Letter from Camp.

— Details of Life in Camp. — Sworn into the Service of the United
States. — Roster of the Company. — Necrology. — March to Chelsea,
and Reception at City Hall. — Visit and Speech from Hon. Frank B.
Fay. —Incidents, Tragic and Comic. — Orders to the Scene of War. —
Presentation of Colors on Boston Common by Hon. Robert C. Win-
throp

CHAPTER II.

THE VOYAGE.

The Storm in Boston Harbor. — Colliding with the Buoy on Monoinoy
Point. — Sea Letter. — Nauseous Condensed Water. — Accident to the
Quartermaster, Lieut. Henry A. Turner. — Arrival at Morehead City.

— Railroad Ride to Newberu. — Description of Scenery in Vicinity of
Camp Rogers. — Letter from Chaplain Manning. — The Regiment.

— Roster of Field-Officers. — Details of Companies during Term of
Service. — Desertions. — Formation of the Brigade. — The Camp. —
Marching Orders

CHAPTER III.

THE GREAT MARCH.— KINSTON.

The March on Goldsborough. —Scenes in Newbern. — The Veterans. —
First Day's March. — Cooking, Sleeping. — The Road blocked by
Trees. — Crossing the Streams. — Home of a "Poor White." — En-
gagement at South-west Creek. — Battle of Kinston. — Musical Bul-
lets. — Rebel Battery. — The Charge. — Chaplain Manning's Letter. —
The Flag of Truce.— The Witty Colored Girl. — The Twenty-third
and Forty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments. — Firing on Kinston. —
Loyal Verses. — Troops advance on Kinston en echelon. — Foster's

8 COXTEXTS.

PAGE.

Despatch. — Ravages of War. — Weight of the Soldier's Load. —
Plundering. — Countermarching over the Battle-Ground. — Dead
Heroes. — Experience in First Fight. — Description of Plantation. —
Sad Scenes in the Ambulances. — Letter of Chaplain Manning . . 39

CHAPTER IV.

. WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGH.

The Battle of Whitehall. — First Gun. — Go down Into the Valley. — Pro-
cession of the Wounded. — Under Fire. — Ordered back. — Sheltered
in the Forest. — Advance again. — Heavy Artillery-Fire. — On Hands
and Knees. — Back again to the Cover. — Death of Private Smith.—
Rally again. — Placed in Front of Battery. —Sleeping under Fire.—
Narrow Escapes. — Chaplain Manning's Letter. — Situation of the
Twenty-third Massachusetts. — Placed in Charge of Baggage-Train.—
Under Sharpshooters' Fire. — Interview with Comrade of the Ninth
New- Jersey. — Experience with Baggage-Train. — Regiment ordered
to Spring-Bank Bridge. — Devotional Exercises. — Recall of Sentries
at Midnight. — Capt. Hanover and Orderly Edmunds lost. — The
Forest-Fire. — Mirage. — Description of the Rebel Charge on our
Artillery. — Witherby. — Services of the Seventeenth Regiment and
Barney Mann in burning the Bridge at Goldsborough .... 65

CHAPTER V.

REVIEW OF THE GOLDSBOROUGH MARCH.

Killed, Wounded, and Missing. — Gen. Foster. — Able Strategy. — His
Wife.— Our Guide.— Whitehall a Naval Station.— Capture of Plym-
outh.— No Pomp, but some Impressive Sights. — The Sound Fleet.—
The Blockade. — Singing. — " Stonewall Jackson's Way." — The
"Battle-Hymn of the Republic." — Sacrificial Exposures of Officers. —
Colored Camp-Followers. — Recruiting in North Carolina for Colored
Regiments. — The Freedmen 90

CHAPTER VI.

THE TRENTON MARCH.

Rest. — Christmas Rejoicings. — Letter of Chaplain Manning. — The
Chapel Tent; Religious and Masonic Meetings. —Personal Eccentri-
cities in Morals. — Visits of Mr. Boud, Charlie Farnum, and Capt.
Dale. — Letters. — The Great Expedition to Charleston.— March to
Trenton. — The Swamp. — The Child. — The Chapel. — The Rock
Ledge in the Road. — The Mill-Dam. — The Skeleton File-Closer.—
Young's Cross-Roads. — First Picket. — Under Water. —The March
back . 103

CHAPTER VII.

THE CAMP AT NEWBERN.
All quiet on the Trent. — Full Description of Camp Rogers. — Letters.—
Our Cook, Mr. William B. Bryant. — Our Sutler, Mr. James Q. Gil-
more. —Gambling. —Drinking. — Drill. — Grand Review. — Artillery-
Practice. — Avocations. — Visit to Newbern 110

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

ATTACK ON NEWBERN. page.

Notice to March. — Artillery Duel on the Road to Kinston. — Firing on
Fort Totten. — On the March. — See Longstreet's Camp-Fires. — Meet
the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts and the Forty-sixth. — Follow the
Enemy to Deep Gully. — The Quaker Cannon. — Scripture Welcome.

— Visit of Major Rogers of Boston. — Colon* on the Steeple in New-
bern. — Reviewed by Gen. Palmer. — Siege of Little Washington. —
Letters. — Affair at Blount's Creek. — Full Account. — Gen. Spinola . 130

CHAPTER IX.

PAMLICO SOUND.

On Board a Transport Schooner. — Gen. Foster runs the Blockade. —
"The Escort" comes alongside. — Companies H, C, and D left on
Board the Schooners. — In Camp at Hill's Point. — Meet C, D, and I
of the Forty-fourth. — Short Rations. — Company E runs the Blockade
in Schooners. — The Rebel Artillery. — Appearance of "The Escort."

— The Siege raised. — Reconnoissance in Force. — The Rebel Grave.

— Blowing up the Earthwork. — The Alarm on Picket. — Return to
Camp Rogers. — Another Advance on Kinston 147

CHAPTER X.

NEWBERN.

Letters. — Guard Duty at Newbern. — Swiss Settlers. —Moral Deteriora-
tion.— Colored Carpenter. — The Newbern Palm. — The Newbern
Battlefield. — Burnside's Strategy. — The Resurrection. — Gun-Shot
Accidents. — Thunder-storms. — Mosquitoes. — Vermin . . .161

CHAPTER XI.

THE RETURN HOME.

Exchange of Arms with the Seventeenth. — Letter from York River. —
Letter from Chesapeake Bay. — Our Voyage on " The Vidette." — Cop-
per Poison. — Hampton Roads. — Company G, Fortieth. — Passage to
Baltimore.— Drunken Delirium. — Camp Bradford. — Wounded Offi-
cers.—Volunteers go to the Front. — Part of the Regiment returns.—
Repulse the Last Enemy. — Report of the Comrades from the Front.

— Invalids from Newbern by Sea.— Reception. — Bounties of Nine-
Months Men.— Chelsea Ride Corps. — Boston Light Infantry (Tigers).

— Causes of the War. — Prevention of War. — Celebration of Peace at
City Hall, Chelsea. — Te Deum Laudamua 171

Appendix A. — Historical Portion of the Address of Hon. Robert C.

Winthrop, on the Presentation of the Colors 19o

Ari-ENDix B. — Roster of the Companies composing the Forty-third Regi-
ment, M.V.M 199

ILLUSTRATIONS.

[The two camp scenes are from photographs taken by Lieut. Nickerson of Company E.
Tbe battles were sketched by Private Merrill G-. Wheelock of Company F, Forty-
fourth Regiment. They were painted in oil for Col. Lee, and photographed. The
heliotypes in this volume are reduced from the photographs.]

PAGE.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.,

"WITH THE FIELD AND STAFF Frontispiece.

Col. Holbkook is seated on the left. Quartermaster Turner is
at his side. Lieut.-Col. Whiton stands in front of the colonel.
Chaplain Manning and Surgeon Webber are next. Adjutant
Whitney reclines at the foot of the flagstaff ; and Major Lane
is last.

CAMP ROGERS

Encampment of the Forty-third Regiment, M.V.M., Newbern,
l N.C., March 12, 1863.

CAPTURE OF KINSTON

This scene is located after the battle. Morrison's Battery is
firing on the town : the troops are passing over the bridge, and
forming their lines on the meadow. The "earthwork" is seen
in the foreground, with soldiers engaged in filling their canteens
from the river.

BATTLE OF GOLDSBOROUGH

The "covered bridge" is located on the right of the picture.
It is nearly concealed by trees. The Wilmington and Weld on
Railroad, along which the Seventeenth passed, can be traced
from the bridge, across the battle-ground, to the left-hand side.
The forest from which the Confederates emerged is visible on
the left side, beyond the railroad; and their^ assault upon our
artillery was upon the knoll represented in the foreground.

HISTORY

FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

CHATTER I.

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READYILLE.

THE -Chelsea Pioneer "of March 22, 1862, contained
the following item : —

"Chelsea Rifle Corps. — This company is now filling up its
members fast, and, as soon as weather will permit, intend to turn
out for street drill. As they own their arms and equipments, we
would recommend an}' of our young Chelsea men who intend to
join in this healthful and useful exercise to make early application,
so as to be among the number ivho will (D.V.) shortly do escort duty
to our Chelsea Volunteers (Company H, First Regiment) on their
return home from the field of victory.'"

Extraordinary as the lines which I have italicized appear,
they undoubtedly represented the state of the public mind
of the North at the time they were written. The "Western
armies were making rapid progress. Burnside had achieved
brilliant victories in North Carolina: and McClellan was mov-
ing down the Potomac with a mighty host, which, it was con-
fidently believed, would soon capture the rebel stronghold,
Richmond, and put an end at once to the Rebellion.

These hopeful events had deceived the authorities at
Washington ; so that during the spring, recruiting for the

HISTORY OF TEE FORTY-THIED REGIMENT, M.V.M.

army was stopped, as it was deemed certain that we had a
sufficient force in the field to effectively crush all opposition
to the national forces. Before three months were gone,
events had transpired which changed the whole aspect of
affairs, deferring for three long and sorrowful years the hopes
of the loyal people of the North. In one of those years of
gloom and disaster the following experiences were cast, and
they are now offered to the public as an humble portion of
the nation's record of patriotic effort.

Early in the afternoon of the sabbath, Aug. 31, 1862, the
writer enrolled himself as a member of a military company
afterward known as Company H, Forty-third (Tiger) Regi-
ment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, for nine months,
unless sooner discharged, and was present with the company
and regiment, with a brief exception, until its arrival home.

The most noteworthy events of our term of service were
connected with what took the name of " The Great March "
from Newbern to Goldsborough, N.C., in which we formed
part of a column of from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand
men under Major-Gen. John G. Foster. During this march,
which occupied eleven days of the month of December, 1862,
we were under fire three times, either as a regiment or com-
panv, — at Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsborough. When
Newbern was attacked by Gen. Longstreet's troops, in March,
1S63, we were sent to the outer posts on the road to Kinston,
several miles from town, and while there were in the imme-
diate presence of a large rebel column. Later on, while the
same forces were besieging Little Washington, N.C., the regi-
ment was under arms for several weeks in active operations,
and on one occasion, at Blount's Creek, was subjected to a
vigorous shelling. On the passage of Gen. Lee into Penn-
sylvania in 1863. we were ordered north, in company with
several other nine-months regiments, and formed for a few
days a part of the troops, supposed to be about eighteen
or twenty thousand men, which were gathered at White-
House Landing, on the Pamunkey River, under the command
of Gen. Dix. From here we went back to Fortress Monroe,
going into camp at Hampton, and remaining until July 2,

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT IiEADVILLE. 13

when we took the steam transport " Kennebec " for Balti-
more, reaching there on the afternoon of July 3. We re-
mained for several days at this place, after marching through
the city on the morning of the 4th, and camping in elegant
private grounds in sight of the Washington Monument and a
large fountain. From tins place, the colors of the regiment
were carried, by two hundred and three officers and men who
volunteered for that service, to Sandy Hook, near Harper's
Ferry, Md. The remainder of the regiment and company
availed themselves of the expiration of our term of service
to return home, which we reached on July 10. A portion
of our company had preceded us, being sent as invalids
direct from Newbern to Boston by sea. Ten days after-
wards, the comrades who went to the front in Maryland
rejoined us in Chelsea, and on the 30th of July the company
came together for the last time at our old camp at Readville,
and were mustered out.

The materials for composing this history consist mainly
of a series of letters written to my own immediate friends,
though other sources of information are at hand, and will be
freely drawn upon. The interest of much of what I wish to
write will be limited to surviving comrades and their families,
or to the friends of those who are deceased. The honorable
record of the city of Chelsea in its dealings with its soldiers
will be evident, and is of sufficient local importance to be
impressed upon our community. But, above all these con-
siderations, there will still remain enough of incidental allu-
sion to the great contest in which we were engaged to fix
the attention, and command the respect, of the general reader.
If the record of our comparatively brief service and slight
exposures contributes in any degree to set in its true light
the sacrifices of the veterans of the three-years term, I shall
feel that a desirable object has been gained.

Returning to my opening paragraph. On the sabbath in
question, public worship in the churches had been interrupted
early in the morning service by the terrible news from
Washington, that the disasters of the Peninsula were being
repeated on the banks of the Rappahannock, and that the

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

forces of Gen. Pope had been hurled back in a second Bull
Run defeat upon Arlington Heights, our own Company H,
First Regiment, being disastrously involved in the repulse.
We scattered to our homes for the preparation of hospital
stores, and Chelsea for several hours afforded an unusual
change from its ordinary sabbath stillness.

I had for some time been quietly but earnestly considering
the duty of enlisting as a matter of religious as well as pa-
triotic obligation, for I had no other reasons. In order to
insure a calm conclusion, I had avoided the stimulating war
meetings which were being held, and at the moment of decis-
ion, after circling Winnisimniet Square anxiously for an
hour, I was so far from enthusiasm, that it was only by a
supreme effort of moral power that I forced myself into the
recruiting-tent, which was located near the centre of the old
square, and signed my name to the enlistment-roll. There
were but three or four present : of these I can only recall
the name of the one whom I shall have occasion hereafter to
introduce as our respected orderly. Much to my surprise,
they instantly, as was the custom, rose to their feet, joined
hands, and gave three lusty cheers. I confess I felt like any
thing but cheering ; but still, this first earnest of the friendly
relationships of the soldier's life, which endured throughout
the rough experiences of a year's campaigning, and which is
still in existence, was very encouraging to me.

During the early hours of the evening of the same day,
the square was thronged by our citizens, of both sexes, who
were addressed by several public speakers, the Rev. Dr. Copp
being one of them, and some of the members of our company;
and on that sabbath, or the next one, the evening meeting
at Walnut-street Methodist-Episcopal Church was largely de-
voted to recruiting-speeches from Capt. J. E. Round, a preach-
er of the New-England Conference, and Lieut. John W.
Fletcher, afterwards mayor of Chelsea. Both of these officers
were connected with Company K of the Forty-third. Lieut.
Fletcher left us soon after we reached Newbern, and joined
the expedition to Charleston, S.C., as an officer of the Signal
Corps.

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT EEADVILLE. 15

As nearly as I can remember, there were over eighty names
upon the list before my own ; and the patriotic motives of
the signers were demonstrated by the fact that most of them
had volunteered before any bounty was offered; then fifty dol-
lars was promised, then a hundred dollars. After we were
in camp, an additional hundred dollars was given, in the
benefits of which we all participated. This last action was
taken by the city government without pressure from us.
The quota of Chelsea was not filled,. the draft was impend-
ing, and citizens who were of military age were urgent in
their entreaties for relief. There was also a sincere convic-
tion that the families of the enlisted citizens could not be
supported on the scanty pay of the government, — thirteen
dollars per month, — without a liberal local supplement.
The following note from Capt. Hanover shows the spirit
with which the company was organized : —

Boston, Nov. 8, 1882.
Mr. E. H. Rogers.

Dear Sir, — ... I would like to make a suggestion or two in
order to strengthen what I deem a fit and proper thing to say of
our Company H, and its really patriotic impulses at the beginning.
I have thought that some allusion should be made to the circum-
stances of its origin.

A few members of the Rifle Corps sent in to the city govern-
ment (at their Saturday evening session, Aug. 16) a petition for
permission to raise men for the nine-months service. We waited
anxiously in the armory in the Square, until after midnight, when
a note from Mayor Fay was received, granting the prayer of
the petitioners. "We immediately obtained an express-wagon, and
went to Boston, procuring a new Sibley tent. Returning, we
broke ground in the Square, — so hard that crowbars had to be
emplo}-ed to make holes for giry-pins. On sabbath morning we
displayed the first tent pitched in Chelsea for war purposes, show-
ing to city government and citizens that we meant business.

Geo. B. Hanover.

Perhaps there is no way in which I can more vividly recall
the influences and scenes of those times than by reprinting
a local flier which was distributed throughout the city some

16 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

time during the month of August, 1862. It was the first
of several which I have (the last dated 1864), forming very_
conspicuous guides to the development of the war-spirit
among us.

WAR COUNCIL.

This (Thursday) Evening,

at 7 o'clock

RALLY FOR YOUR COUNTRY!

And show that you are in earnest in bringing this unholy
Rebellion to a close by immediately re-enforcing the Army
of the Potomac.

Remember ! if the city has to resort to draft, that no Bounty
or State Aid will be paid .'

RALLY ONE AND ALL!

j£i= Let the Chelsea boys in the Army of the Potomac
know that you are ready to sustain them at any cost!

I should also have associated with the ahove the circula-
tion and singing of spirited ballads, one of which I will send
down to posterity. The " six hundred thousand more "
refers to the levy of the three hundred thousand three-years
men of 1862 and our own contingent of the same number
of nine-months men, which followed immediately.

SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE.

We are coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more, —

From Mississippi's winding stream, and from New England's shore;

We leave our ploughs and workshops, our wives and children dear,

With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear;

We dare not look behind us, but steadfastly before:

We are coming, Father Abraham, — six hundred thousand more.

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READVILLE. 17

If you look across the hilltops that meet the northern sky,

Long moving lines of rising dust your vision may descry;

And now the wind an instant tears the cloudy veil aside,

And floats aloft our spangled flag in glory and in pride ;

And bayonets in the sunlight gleam, and bands brave music pour :

We are coming, Father Abraham, — six hundred thousand more.

If you look all up our valleys, where the glowing harvests shine,

You may see our sturdy farmer-boys fast falling into line;

And children from their mother's knees are pulling at the weeds,

And learning how to reap and sow against their country's needs ;

And a farewell group stands weeping at every cottage-door :

We are coming, Father Abraham, — six hundred thousand more.

You have called us, and we're coming by Richmond's bloody tide,
To lay us down for freedom's sake our brothers' bones beside,
Or from foul treason's savage grasp to wrench trie murderous blade,
And in the face of foreign foes its fragments to parade.
Five hundred thousand loyal men and true have gone before :
We are coming, Father Abraham, — six hundred thousand more.

Some time during the first week in September, the company
met for the choice of officers, resulting in the election of
Messrs. George B. Hanover as captain, and William Brad-
bury and U. C. Coles worthy, jun., as first and second lieuten-
ants. Mr. John Edmunds, Jan., was appointed first sergeant,
or orderly, with four other sergeants and eight corporals.
On Tuesday the 9th. we met at the armory of the Chelsea
Light Infantry, in Gerrish's Building, and made our first
march over the ferry and across the city, past the State
House, to the Providence Depot, taking the cars for Camp
Meigs at Readville, about nine miles from Boston.

As we passed over Beacon Hill, the body of Col. Fletcher
"Webster of the Massachusetts Twelfth, who had been re-
cently slain at the head of his regiment, was being borne to
its last resting-place at Marshfield, within our hearing; and
the mournful notes of the "Dead March" which fell upon
our ears were not calculated to elevate our spirits. But the
day was pleasant: we were hopeful as well as patriotic;
our situation had tiie charm of novelty: so gloomy thoughts
were soon dissipated, and we arrived at camp, where we
found matters as introduced in the following note: —

18 BISTORT OF THE F011TY-TIIIED EEGWENT, 21.V.2I.

I>" Camp, Readviixk, Mass.,

Sept. 10, 1802, 3Sth Birthday.

, I am glad that I am able to write my first note to

you in such good spirits and such favorable circumstances. We
reached our carap about one o'clock ; and after feeling the first re-
straint of the soldier's life, in being kept in line half an hour before
our dinner was ready — on account of the 'tendency to straggle —
we had the liberty of the camp, or rather one of them (for there are
five distinct ones), the others being occupied by the Forty-second,
the Forty-fourth, and the Forty-fifth Infantry Regiments, with the
Eleventh Battery. During the afternoon our rubber and woollen
blankets were delivered to us, ami at nine p.m. we were mustered in
line, and the roll was called. At half-past nine the lights in the tents
were ordered out, and we retired. There was plenty of straw ; but
I am obliged to say that we all had rather an uncomfortable night :
the reason lay partly in our inexperience, and partly in a very
piercing valley mist, which soaked our tents, — the}' were old and
thin, — and reduced the temperature. We feel more hopeful for
to-night.

As to eating — some of our meals are very good; but coffee
and tea are poor. I an to-day put in uniform. . . . There were
about sixty-three of our company came out ; but they are coming
and going all the time, averaging about twenty-five present. This
is written in the centre of my tent, which will accommodate about
twenty men. I am surrounded by a group of talkative young
fellows. It is late, and I must bid you good-night.

The camp to which we had come was first occupied by
the Boston companies, on the 27th of August, and it was
already known as that of the Forty-third Regiment, which
was being recruited on the Boston Light Infantry — Second
Battalion — as a base. This was an old organization long
known under the appellation of " Tigers ;" which term the
new regiment appropriated. Several companies were on the
grounds, which presented a scene of activity new to most of
us. Our own company had been filled nearly to its maxi-
mum, and on Sept. 20 we were inspected and sworn in by
Capt. X. B. McLaughlin of the regular army, afterwards in
command of our friends of Company H, First Regiment. I
noticed that all the recruits of advanced years appeared to

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READVILLE.

have stopped in. their growth at the age of forty-five: the
reason was obvious. One man admitted that he was older,
and was immediately rejected. When the officer came to
any one who was evidently older, but who would not admit
it, he cross-questioned him sharply. If the age was persisted
in, and the man appeared reasonably vigorous, he was passed.

I quote here the full roster of the company, from the
report of the adjutant-general of the State, appending, also,
a memorial of the dead. Ninety-three are given as residing
in Chelsea, but this is an error. The word " quota " should
be used instead of "residence." A very large majority, how-
ever, were citizens of Chelsea.

The company was homogeneous and harmonious. We
were all of American birth and parentage, with the exception
of six, who were English or Scotch, with one French Cana-
dian,— all of them acceptable as comrades.

ROSTER OF COMPANY H, FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

Najies.

Rank.

Age.

Residence.

I
George B. ilanover Captain . . . . [ 42

Chelsea.

William Bradbury . .

First Lieutenant

i 88

D. C. ('olesworthy, Jan.

Second Lieutenant .

John Edmunds, jun. .

First Sergeant . .

i 23

Charles G. Butts . . .

Sergeant . .

John H. Perry . . .

'.'

Horace P. Eldridge . .

Daniel P. Illslev . . .

Charles T. Adams . .

Corporal

Thomas Kim;, jun. . .

Soutlnvorth Brvant . .

Charles M. Coburn . .

•'

John T. Pitman . . .

Franklin 0. Barnes. .

Alfred M. S. Butler. .

George E. Colesworthy

Charles L. Humphrey .

Musician

Norman Wilson . . .

Samuel P. Wilkinson .

Wagoner

Charles K. Fisher . .

Armorer

:38

Adams. Sylvester B. .

Private

Adams, Jonathan S.

Bryant, William B. . .

Hunter, Gilbert . . .

Bhmchard, Edwin B. .

Beatly, Charles b. . .

£0 HISTORY OF TILE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

ROSTER OF COMPANY H. — Continued.

SiMES.

Rank.

A-.'.

Residence.

Eassett. Charles Z
Burtt, Joseph A. .
Butts, Edwin H. .
Ballsdon, George .
Benner, Edwin .
Bettis, Jonas A. .
Carruth, Isaac S.
Colesworthy, Charles
Cao, William . .
Dade, David B. .
Emerson, George H
Evans, Thomas H.
Evans. FrankS. .
Folsom, William J.
Farley, James A. .
Fracker, John W.
Forrest, Henry
Gooding, George .
Goodwin. Clement F
Giliing, William F
Geary, George W.
Giraghty, John F.
Hayden, John . .
Harlow, Dexter .
Hopkins, John P.
Hall, Charles W. .
Harrison, John L.
Hemmenway, Geor
Haney, Thomas .
Hoyt, Charles H. .
Judkins, Hiram .
Jones, John T.
Johnson, Samuel W
Kimball, James H.
Knowles. Henry F.
Lombard, George E.
Le Blanc. Renn .
Lovejoy, Joseph T.
Loach. James W. .
Lord, George F. .
Mclntyre, James .
McKeuzie, William
Maynard, Cornelius
Morrill, George E.
Mason, Walter
Mears, George . .
Merritt, Martin .
Patrick, Albert E.
Perry, Almon . .
Pierce, George F.
Parker, Merritt .
Perkins. Charles W.
Pratt, George W. .
Pickford, Henry .

■geS,

Private

Chelsea.
Andover.
Chelsea,

Andover.
Chelsea.

Boston.
Chelsea.

Maiden.

Winthrop.

Chelsea.

Weston.
Chelsea.

Andover.
Chelsea.

Maiden.
Boston.
Chelsea.

THE ENLISTMENT, AND TLTE CAMP AT EEADVILLE. 21
ROSTER OF COMPANY H. — Concluded.

Names.

Rank.

Age.

Residence.

Richardson, Zanoni A

Rackiif, Benjamin

Rogers, Edward H

Stanwood, William E

Spaulding, William A

Sinclair, John G

Spooner, John F

Swords, Edward K

Private

13
40
38
40
21
21
18

18
19

24
18
22
34
26-
24
29
44
19
19
44
39
42
26
28
39

Winchester.
Chelsea.

Maiden.
Chelsea.

Thompson, Henry F.

Twombly, Charles W

Tilden, Colman, jun

Tufts, John

Weston.

Whittemore, Thomas, jun

Whitford, Reuben

Whiting, Edward

Warren, Theodore B

Watson, John A

Wilson, Henry

Wvlie, Isaac

White, William R

Wood, Joseph A

Chelsea.

Young, George W

Note. — Cao, Forrest, and Waters deserted at Readville; Judkins and
Swett were discharged for disability in March, 1S63.

NECROLOGY OF THE COMPANY.

Lieut. William Bradbury
Lieut. 1"). C. Colesworthy, jun
Corporal Charles T. Adams
Musician Chas. L. Humphrey
Musician Norman Wilson .
William B. Bryant ....

Jonas A. Bettis

I«aac S. Carruth ....

David B. Bade

Thomas II. Evans ....
James A. Farley ....

l-SOO
1878
1882

1881

1880

Died.

John Hayden 1867

Hiram Judkins 1866

James H. Kimball —

George E. Lombard .... 1872

James W. Loach —

William. E. Stanwood . . . . 1866

John F. Spooner 1867

Edward K. Swords 1S77

Abner G. Teel —

William R. White —

Joseph A. Wood 1806

The above includes only the names of those who are known to have
passed away. The date, in some cases, is conjectural.

Here, then, amid the beautiful scenery of the southern
suburbs of Boston, at the base of the Blue Hills, was to be
our home for nearly two months. The three-years regiments

22 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

immediately preceding us had been hurried to the front
without the instruction necessary to enable them to manoeu-
vre under fire, and it was understood that Gov. Andrew was
unwilling that we should leave the State until we were thor-
oughly drilled. To this end the movements of the squad,
company, and battalion, with the daily dress-parade and
guard-mounting, were pursued with diligence. The perfec-
tion of our movements, however, was much impeded by the
fact that our arms (Springfield rifles) were not furnished to
us until the eve of our departure. We made several marches
into the country, and on one or two occasions the regiment
visited the city : during one of them we were provided with
a bountiful collation on Beacon-street Mall at the expense of
the city of Boston. A short time before our departure, the
Chelsea members of the company, which comprised a large
part of our number, came home in a body, being met at the
Providence Depot by the Chelsea Rifles, and escorted to the
Square by the way of the ferry : here we were dismissed to
our homes. During the evening we again assembled under
the following circumstances: —

MILITARY OVATION".

"A pleasant re-union of friends, a mingling of partially dis-
severed households, took place at the City Hall on Wednesday
evening. Capt. Hanover and his company (Fourth Company
Chelsea Volunteers) — II, Forty-Third Regiment, attached to Col.
Holbrook's 'Tigers,' and encamped at Readville — -visited the city
of their homes on invitation of the Chelsea Rifle Corps, citizens
and friends co-operating to make the reception worthy of the
occasion.

"The company arrived at Providence Depot in Boston at five
o'clock, where they were received by the Rifles, Capt. Hilbourn,
fifty guns, with the Chelsea Band. Under this escort the Tigers
reached Chelsea by the ferry, the band playing ' Sweet Home '
with the quick movements of a march as they passed through our
streets to the armory, where they were dismissed till eight o'clock,
at which hour they marched to the City Hall under the same escort.
The hall was flanked with richly spread and brilliantly decorated
tables, and made attractive with kindling eyes. . . . Capt. Ilil-

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READT1LLE. 23

bourn delivered a reception-speech to his guests, which was re-
sponded to by Capt. Hanover with ardent brevity. The Tigers
then filed round the tables, and commenced to fill with rations of*
palatable viands not common to soldiers' haversacks. Meanwhile
the band discoursed melodious strains.

"After the repast, W. R. Pearmain, Esq., in behalf of the ladies,
presented Capt. Hanover with a magnificent bouquet, and to the
other officers and non-commissioned officers similar floral favors.
These bouquets, for the most part, were very choice, and were sup-
plied for the occasion by Mrs. Isaac Stebbins and other ladies.

" After a period of social conversational intercourse, the music
indulged in livelier and more impulsive measures, terminating in
the dance. . . . Next day, at Wo o'clock p.m., they re-assembled
at the armory, and returned to Camp Meigs, highly delighted with
their visit." — Pioneer, Oct. 18, 1862.

Among the incidents of our stay at Readville, one, in
which Lieut. Bradbury was the principal actor, deserves
recording. One of the younger members of the company
was somewhat free with his tongue while on duty, and the
lieutenant was aggravated by it to such an extent as to
cause him to lose command of his temper. Catching the
offender by the coat-collar, he sat him down quite suddenly'
in a mud-puddle. The incident caused some feeling among
the men, and also in Chelsea. The lieutenant, learning of
it, took the first opportunity to make a handsome public
apology to the whole company; and justice to his memory
calls upon me to say that his conduct throughout the whole
term of service amply vindicated his sincerity.

Having said this, I will add that all our officers were
"gentlemen." Just how much is comprised in this term no
one can tell until he has been under the strict control neces-
sary in military affairs. I am justified in saying that there
was not an angry altercation or word between any of us and
our officers, commissioned or non-commissioned, during the
whole time of service ; nor was there any harsh or severe
treatment experienced by us at their hands.

A short time before our final departure, the lion. Frank B.
Fay made us a visit, and addressed the company assembled

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD EEGHIEXT, M.V.M.

in line in our street. I recall enough o£ his speech to know
that it was characteristic of the man, — both sensible and
practical. We listened with profound attention to the advice
which he, by his familiar intercourse with the army, was so
well qualified to give to us. He complimented our appear-
ance, and expressed his confidence in our ability to establish
a good record; he urged us to take good care of our health,
not to drink too much coffee, never to sleep on the bare
ground if it could possibly be avoided, — to get a fence-rail,
or a barrel-stave, or a bunch of weeds under our back-bones
to protect us from moisture, — to be sure to mark our names
on our knapsacks, clothes, etc. In concluding, he warned us
to expect to be treated unjustly.

Some time during the autumn the regiment had quite a
sensation, coming in the shape of what appeared to be an
accident to a member of the Abington company. He was
engaged in splitting wood, during which he cut off one of
his great toes, exciting much sympathy, until, on looking at
his boot, it was found to be chalked at the spot where the
axe had passed through it, thus proving that the mutilation
was intentional. From all that could be learned, homesick-
ness, instead of cowardice, seemed to be the impelling motive
of the deed.

Our stay at Readville was enlivened by the daily presence
of a Boston band, hired by the regiment, and also by the
frequent visits of our families and friends. We had our full
share of the exuberance of spirits natural to men released
from the dull and engrossing routine of daily labor, and
many were the pranks that were played. As I recall them, I
wonder that we had not broken some of our necks. On one
occasion I saw a sutler's building, that must have been at
least fifteen feet by twenty-five, taken off its foundation
by as many men as could get under it, and moved several
hundred feet, to a more appropriate location than its original
one, with the most side-splitting scenes of laughter. After
it was set upon its new base, it was broken open, and the
contents of pastry, etc., were tunmltuously scrambled for.
and eaten. Rather rough on the owner, the reader will

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READYILLE. 25

think. In some respects it was ; in others, not. It would
have cost him something in money to have moved the build-
ing himself, so that his cakes were not an entire loss to him ;
then the transaction was an open one, done in the broad
light of mid-day ; it was impromptu, and without malice,
and it passed off without any further notice.

At another time, as I was standing in our company's street
early one evening, I noticed one of the tallest and liveliest
of our men, whom I shall speak of as " the deacon," coming
quietly along past me, having with him six or eight of the
fundovers of our number. I saw by their manner that some-
thing was up, and kept my eyes upon them. They passed up
to the head of the street, and stopped opposite the sergeant's
quarters, — a low A tent large enough for four men. It was
closed ; but it was apparent shortly afterwards, that our or-
derly was in it, engaged in writing, and one or two of his
associates were also with him. Absolute stillness prevailed.
As quick as the tent was reached, and without any talk or
even signs, the " deacon " laid himself down flat upon his
face, on the ground; his comrades in mischief ranged them-
selves on either side, and placed their hands under his body,
raising him about eighteen inches; they then swayed him to
and fro, still preserving perfect quiet, until, at a final word
of command, he was hurled head first into the tent, and, as
the flap was not fastened, he disappeared completely from our
sight. The effect was very observable. The group of aston-
ished sergeants put in an appearance on the street as soon
as they could pick themselves up, and get out of the fallen
tent. It was soon apparent to them that the world had not
come to an end, after which an explanation was in order: this
was made in such circumstances of uproarious merriment
from all concerned, as to render anger out of the question.
" John " thought that it was rather " steep," hoped, in his
courteous manner, that they "wouldn't do so again," and the
incident passed off without serious consequences, either phy
sical or moral.

There was often a strange blending of the grave and the
comic in connection with our countersigns : these were

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

usually taken from the scene of war, — Antietam, etc.; and
on one occasion a German recruit, who had hardly acquired
the ordinary use of our language, challenged the grand
rounds "to advance the 'South Mountain,' and give the
countersign."

A pleasant memory of Readville recurs in chronicling the
fact that the neighboring residents on several occasions made
us the honored sharers of their crops of fruit, bringing them
into camp by loads, and emptying them upon the ground in
our streets.

Finally, during the last of October, various floating ru-
mors as to our departure and destination took definite form
in an order, dated Oct. 24, to our colonel, to go on board of
the steamer "Merrimac," at Boston, and on arrival at New-
bern, N.C., to report to Gen.- John G. Foster, commanding
the Eighteenth Army Corps.

The preparations necessary for our departure delayed us
until Wednesday, Nov. 5, when we took the cars for Boston.
Several regiments besides our own were in motion on that
day, destined for .North Carolina and Louisiana ; so that our
progress was slow, and we did not reach the parade-ground
on the Common until late in the afternoon. We here re-
ceived our colors from the hands of the Hon. Robert C. Win-
throp, accompanied by a lengthy and interesting historical
address, the closing words of which I give, as follows, with
Col. Holbrook"s reply: —

" Sir, I may detain you no longer. These historical reminis-
cences and allusions, which I should hardly have been pardoned
for omitting on such an occasion, have loft me no time for dwell-
ing on the circumstances under which you have been called forth,
or of the cause in which you are engaged. But the banner at my
side will more than supply all such deficiencies. Indeed, however
precious and however sacred may be the freedom of opinion and
of discussion to the citizen at home, to the soldier in the field,
the order of his commander and the tlag of his country are the
only and all-sullicient chart and compass of his duty. I will make
no vain effort to give a new glory, or even a new gloss, to that
naii. All that could be done to invest it with the charms of elo-

THE ENLISTMENT, AND THE CAMP AT READV1LLE. 27

quence and poetry has already and long ago been done. The
genius of our land has inwoven itself upon even* tint and thread
and fibre of its hallowed texture. Yet its own majestic presence
is more eloquent and more inspiring than all that ever has been
or can be said of it. It is the flag of our fathers, the flag of
Washington, the flag of the Union. It is the symbol of no party
less comprehensive than the whole people, of no policy less broad
and general than the whole constitution, of no region or territory
or district or section less extensive and wide-spread than our
whole country. The stars are all there, shining out from its field
of blue and red, like the glory of those who first unfurled it from
the fields of their wounds and blood — the stars are all there:
we count them wistfully day by day, and hail each one of them
still and always as the cherished emblem of a sUter-state. And
most fervently do we hope and pray, that, by the blessing of God,
the da}' may again soon return when each one of them may again
be hailed as the emblem of a loving and loyal sister, when a
spirit of reconciliation ma}- have been poured out effectually over
all those alienated hearts, and when the blessed radiance of our
whole glorious constellation may once more illuminate the path-
way of constitutional liberty for all the nations of the earth.

" It only remains for me, sir, to present to you, as I now do,
the standard which has been prepared for you. In the name of
the Boston Light Infantry Association and of the friends of your
regiment who are gathered around me, I commit it to the sacred
guardianship of the regiment under your command. And may the
blessing of God attend you whenever and wherever you may be
called on to display it or defend it ; and not upon you only, but
upon all your gallant compeers who have been your associates in
yonder camp, and who go forth with you this day to a common
field of duty and of danger. God bless and prosper and protect
them all ! "

This eloquent address was listened to with earnest atten-
tion, and was frequently applauded.

Col. Holbrook, in behalf of the regiment, responded as fol-
lows : —

" Mr. WrxTHROp, and Gentlemen of the Boston Light
Ineantkv Association, — The fatigues of the camp Ibis morning
have completely unfitted me for making any remarks, and beside

2S HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

your own, I foci that there is nothing for rue to sa}- further than
that, without making any promises or pledges of what we shall
accomplish, we shall endeavor to do our duty to the best of our*
ability. And, sir, from the knowledge I have of the officers and
men under my command, I have no hesitation in saying that what-
ever I call upon them to do, and whatever dangers they ma}- be
called on to brave, they will nobly sustain their part with honor
to themselves and members of the Boston Light Infantry Associa-
tion.

•• I thank you, sir, and through you the members of the Boston
Light Infantry, for this beautiful flag. It will not only serve to
remind us of the present moment and of friends at home ; but it
will ever remind us of the motto of our noble corps : ' Death, or
an honorable life.' "

It was nearly dark before we were allowed to take leave
of our friends. They had been patiently waiting, for long
wearisome hours, for the final parting, upon the dear, familiar
grounds where most of us had been accustomed from our
boyhood to scenes of patriotic rejoicing and festivity upon
our national anniversary. It was so late, that but a few
moments could be allowed us for this purpose, after which
we formed column.

" With hearts too full for utterance,
But with a silent tear,
We dared not look behind us,
But steadfastly liefore,
For farewell crroups stood weeping "

as we moved past the State House, down School, "Wash-
ington. State, and Commercial Streets, to Battery Wharf at
the North End. Here occurred one of those tedious delays
which formed so marked a feature of military life, and it was
late in the evening before we were fairly on board, and mov-
ing down the harbor.

THE VOYAGE.

CHAPTER II.

THE VOYAGE.

TE awoke on the following morning, and, to our sur-
prise, we found ourselves lying at anchor under shel-
ter of Deer Island. It was understood that we were to wait
until the gunboat " Huron " could be prepared at the Navy
Yard to act as a convoy. The Confederate cruiser " Ala-
bama " had been capturing shipping off the coast, and it was
deemed unsafe to trust unarmed steamers, like our own, at
sea.

Meanwhile a severe and long-contiuued easterly storm, a
gale indeed, with rain and snow, set in. The large size and
corresponding draught of our ships had compelled us to
anchor at some distance from the island. The storm occa-
sioned a heavy swell to heave in from Broad Sound; and the
action of the tide caused the vessels to lie, much of the time,
in the trough of the sea, or sideways to the waves : they
rolled considerably, and this made the situation quite uncom-
fortable to us all, and specially so to those, of whom there
were many, who were inclined to seasickness.

I should have stated previously that the Forty-fifth Regi-
ment from Readvilie was under the same orders as ourselves,
with the exception that they were on board " The Mississip-
pi,"' a sister-ship of kt The Merrimac ; " and the Forty-sixth, a
nine-months regiment from the western part of the State,
was also with us, half being oiv board ,l The Merrimac," and
half on board " The Mississippi." This made nearly fifteen
hundred men on board each ship, which would have tasked
their capacity to the utmost, even in pleasant weather. The
ships were well ventilated, and fitted for troops; but the
number on board was too large. And the privations and ex-

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-TLURD REGIMENT, M.V..V.

posures were sufficiently marked to cause much fault-finding
and some suffering.

The national authorities at Boston sent down another
steamer, " The Saxon," as soon as our condition became
known. Part of the men of the Forty-sixth were removed
from each ship to her, and peace and comfort prevailed
among us. The storm abated on Sunday, our preparations
were completed ; and on Monday afternoon, Nov. 10, we saw
the gunboat coming down the harbor. All three of the trans-
ports immediately weighed their anchors, and proceeded to
sea, accompanied by our friends in harbor-tugs, who finally
bid us good-by as they went over the side while we were
passing Boston Light "at sunset!

I remained upon deck long enough to enjoy the sight of
the four ships steaming rapidly to sea, one after the other,
the regulation-colored lights at each bow, and a light at
every masthead. Going down to my place on the after-
orlop, I slept quietly until about three o'clock in the morn-
ing, when I was startled by a slight collision, with a peculiar
noise. For the moment I was mystified. The ship's pro-
peller stopped at once, and it seemed a long time before the
sound, which was a rasping friction of something with the
ship's side her whole length, ceased. But she finally ran clear
of it, and we soon learned, what I had suspected after my first
bewilderment was over. Our ship was built of iron, and we
had struck the iron-can buoy located at Monomoy Point, the
extreme south-eastern extremity of Cape Cod. The sound
was as unearthly as the bray of the mules with which we
afterwards became so familiar in North Carolina. The men
were, for the most part, cool; but there were tendencies to a
rush to the gangway-ladders, which might have been disas-
trous to some of us. This was happily averted, however, by
the loud and clear voice of •Capt. Hanover, who had leaped
upon deck at the first alarm, and, after learning its cause,
came to the hatch, and calmed our apprehensions with an
explanation. It was fortunate for us that we had been re-
lieved of some of the men of the Forty-sixth. We were so
fearfully crowded while they were with us, that we should

THE VOYAGE.

have struggled desperately, if a panic had happened, to get
on deck.

At daylight we were passing Edgartown, and, on clearing
Vineyard Sound, directed our course to the south-west, which
soon brought us to the open ocean ; and by ten o'clock A.m:.
we had sunk Block Island (the last land in sight) so low,
that it only showed as a speck upon the horizon. We were
at sea. The last local association had been sundered, and
we became conscious that henceforth our country demanded
all our time and strength in her service.

Of the voyage, as of the camp, I have but one letter, which
I will copy, and afterwards supply its omissions.

Steameb "Merrimac," off Beaufort, N.C.,
Friday, a.m., Nov. 14. 1S62.

• I am on deck this morning, under a summer sky soft

and balmy, with showers falling in the horizon, as with us in
August, endeavoring, as best I may amid the constant interruptions
incident to such a crowd, to pencil a few lines. We are supposed
to be close in to Beaufort, as we passed Hatteras Light last even-
ing, though the shore is so low that it is invisible. With the ex-
ception of three or four passing vessels and our own squadron, we
have seen nothing but sea and sky since Tuesday morning. Our
passage has been very pleasant, and, with the exception of one
day, very smooth. There has been, however, some seasickness
on board. The length of our voyage has been owing to the dull
sailing of our convoy, "The Union;" there being a constant
necessity of slacking speed, of stopping, and even of going back
and circling around her, in order to keep within the shelter of her
powerful armament.

Satukdav, a.m., Nov. 13.

Last night "The Mississippi" ran away, and this morning
"The Saxon" and ourselves are following suit, driving ahead
with the full force of our engines. We expect to be in Beaufort
before night.

Our officers have been very kind and considerate, and we are
favored with the presence of one lady, the colonel's wife, who
stands to us as an earnest of what a thousand other wives would
do, did circumstances permit. You can't think how grateful we are
to the kind friends in Chelsea, who at the last moment sent our

3:1

HISTORY OF THE FOBTY-THTBD REGIMEXT, M.V.M.

company five barrels of apples. The}' are so admirable, both for
the palate and above all for health, that we have been the envy of
the regiment. I believe that Mr. Butts was conspicuous in this
kind deed : if so, I could wish to extend to him our hearty thanks.
I have fared well during the voyage, having my haversack so well
filled by loving hands on the Common. We have had two meals
a daj-, which has been enough. As we are so crowded, there is no
room for drill, and we have but little to do. What privation there
has been has been mainly due to the fact that we are entirely de-
pendent upon condensed water, as all the fresh water that we have
has to be given to the officers' horses, who will not drink a drop of
the condensed water : this is limited in quantity, and it tastes so
strongly of oil as to be nauseous. Many can taste it even in tea
and coffee. (Interrupted by arrival.)

The only incident of general interest which happened during
our voyage was an accident of a serious nature to our quarter-
master, Lieut. Henry A. Turner. He, with quite a number of
other officers, was on the quarter-deck, at the extreme after-end
of the ship, on the most windy day of our voyage. The ship was
very uneasy, making it difficult for landsmen to preserve their
balance. The officers had gathered a quantity of joiner's chips,
pieces of board, and the like, and one by one they were throwing
them overboard, and then firing at them with revolvers, as long as
they remained within easy range. It was quite exciting sport, as
the water showed where the balls struck ; and encomium or ridicule
rapidly followed upon each shot, according to its success or failure.
All at once, we of the ranks, who were debarred from the official
precincts above us, noticed a sudden cessation of the firing, the
laughter, and talk, and it quickly appeared that the services of our
surgeon were required. It proved that Lieut. Turner, while wait-
ing for his chance to fire, had prematurely discharged his weapon
while holding it downwards; aud the ball had gone through the
centre of his foot.

I will finish, the record of the voyage by using a portion
of the first letter home from Newbern.

Is Cajip, neab Newber**, Nov. 1C, 181)2.

I wrote to you on board ship, sealing my letter on

discovering land, and leaving it on board for transit home. We
were unfortunate enough to ground on a bar shortly after entering

THE VOYAGE. 06

the harbor, giving the other regiment the start of us in respect to
railroad facilities; so that vre did not get clear of the ship until
Saturday nooti. nine days after coming on board. What should
we have thought if we could have known this when we embarked !

From the same letter I quote as follows : —

" We had a pleasant and interesting railroad ride to Newbern,
through rough forest scenery. We passed over the battle-field
which resulted in the capture of the town six months before, with-
out being aware of its proximity, and stopped on the south bank
of the Trent River. From here we marched north-westerly, along
the course of the Trent, about two miles from Newbern, and
halted very nearly upon the spot, at nightfall, where our regiment
was to be located. ' Camp Rogers ' was the name afterwards given
to it, in honor of Major C. 0. Rogers of 'The Boston Journal,'
a patron of the regiment."

THE CAMP.

For a day or two our situation was one of uncertainty and
discomfort while waiting for our material and stores from
" The Merrimac ; " but gradually order came out of disorder,
as we adjusted ourselves to our new circumstances. My first
impressions of the place are recorded as follows : —

" Our camp is very pleasantly situated on an elevated rolling
plain, more extensive than Readville, about two miles and a half
long, and a mile wide, having been a plantation. The soil is a
porous, sandy loam very much resembling the Cape, but move
arable. It is thinly' clothed with grass, and contrasts strangely
with the luxuriance of the meadows and water-courses. If you
can bring into your mind all that you have read of the verdure of
Brazil, and suppose it by some incomprehensible process wedded
to the barren sterility of our sandy Cape, you will have some idea
of what I am seeing here in respect to natural scenery."

I afterward ascertained that there were large beds of deli-
cate tropical shells, barely hidden beneath the surface, within
a few hundred feet of our camp; thus proving that the low
part of North Carolina is of very recent origin.

In the location of the camp the north-western corner was

34 niSTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

bounded by the Trent for a hundred feet or thereabouts.
At this point there was a beach of hard soil. The river was
perfectly fresh, there being no regular tide, though the
volume of water varied considerably. This beach was a great
convenience to us. The whole regiment resorted to it in the
morning to wash or bathe ; and parties were present at all
hours of leisure engaged in washing clothes.

Just below the camp, a few hundred feet, there was a
bridge, which connected with what was called the Trent
Road, leading toward Kinston. This bridge, I should judge,
was about four hundred feet long. About a quarter of a
mile nearer Newbern, the navy was represented by a New-
!■. , York canal-boat, which was doing duty as a floating battery.
She had a rifled pivot-gun on her deck, and was a fixture,
although afloat all the time of our stay. During the still-
ness of the night we could hear her bell striking the time in
nautical style. This was a great convenience in regulating
our watches, and the associations were also pleasant to those
of us who were accustomed to the sea.

The Chaplain writes concerning the camp as follows : —

Tir.Er. Regiment (Camp Rogers), Dec 8, 1862.

Our camp is on the right bank of the River Trent, a broad and
tortuous stream which creeps northward to the Neuse with a flow
so sluggish as to be hardly perceptible ; while on its left bank, and
between the two river-;, is the cit \* of Newbern. We are two miles
from town by direct course and the railroad-bridge; some four or
five miles, if we choose a pleasanter route through woods, crossing
the Trent by an old bridge near the barracks of the Forty-fifth
Massachusetts Regiment. Our regimental line extends north and
south, the left toward Newbern, the right resting on the river,
which at tins point wears gently inward upon us. The rising sun
looks into the tent-doors of the field and line officers, and up the
company streets.

At dress-parade, when the clay is withdrawing through the west,
amid its setting splendors we fancy ourselves at Readville again.
True, the glories of Blue Mountain are not in front of our line of
battle; but just over the extreme right, between our hospital and
chapel tents, and beyond the river and the far-stretching marsh, we

ill " ;_V^V;|

: 5. ,-.'•■■

0 r

m
x

(7) 5

;•- .

I . }

THE VOYAGE.

see the sun go down precisely as at our first encampment in old
Massachusetts. There are the same officers in the same relative
positions, the same commands in the same ringing tones, the same
glistening bayonets, polished musket-barrels, shoulder-scales, and
various housings, burnished by the same peaceful radiance ; and
the surface of the Trent, no longer dark and sullen, but beaming
with the brightness of the descending sun, whose benignant smile
has overlaid it, seems no other than that of the little lake which
spread so sweethy between us and the Forty-fourth hardly more
than a month ago.

THE REGIMENT. JL * .■.J*tJ>o ! ;>

. There was no time previous to our arrival in North Caro-
lina which could be devoted to a description of our regiment,
for changes were taking place from day to day, which now
measurably ceased, and the battalion took permanent form.
The history of the company involves, to a large extent, that
of the regiment, and especially so in our case, as we were the
color-company, and on that account were the less liable to be
detached :• in fact we were only separated for a week or two
during the whole time of service.

The field-officers were as follows : —

Chaki.es S. Holtsrook, Colonel; John C. Whiton,
Lieutenant- Colonel (afterwards Colonel of the Massachusetts
Fifty-eighth); Everett Lane, Major; A. Carter Webber,
Sia-geon; Augustus Mason, Assistant Surgeon; James M.
Whitney, Adjutant; Henry A. Turner, Quartermaster ;
JACOB M. MANNING, Chaplain; J. E. GlLMAN, Sergeant-
Major; W. W. TUTTLE, Quartermaster-Sergeant; A. C.
Jordan, Commissary Sergeant ; W. H. MANSFIELD, Hospital
Steward.

The details of companies for special dutj- apart from the
regiment during our term of service were as follows : —

Nov. 30, Company C, Capt. William B. Fowle, jun., was
ordered to Beaufort, N.C., where it remained until the 4th
of Maixh, 1863, when it reported back to the regiment. On
Dec. 31, 186:2, Companies A, D, and E, were ordered on
picket-duty at Bachelior's Creek, about ten miles from camp,
where they remained till Jan. 11, 1863. They were under

MSTGRY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

the command of Capt. T. G. Whytal of Company D. Jan.
11, Company I, Capt. George O. Tyler, was ordered on
picket-duty at Evan's Mills, about seven miles from camp,
where it remained till March 2, 1863. On the 15th of
April, Companies C, D, and H, as further stated, were de-
tailed for special duty in Pamlico Sound, under Major Lane,
from which we were relieved on the 21th inst.

The report of the adjutant-general gives seventy-one deser-
tions from two of the Boston companies, A and B, while only
twenty-four are reported against the rest of the regiment, of
which nine are set against the other Boston Company, C,
three only being credited to our company. The reason for
this is to be found in the fact that Boston was slow in offering
bounties, and the country companies profited by her delay.
In justice to the whole regiment it should be said that there
was not, so far as I know, a single genuine case of desertion
after we left the State. The whole battalion was patriotic
and loyal, without ostentation or vanity.

We were united with the Twenty-third, the Seventeenth,
the Forty-fifth, and the Fifty-first, all Massachusetts regi-
ments, and formed the First Brigade, and first division of
the Eighteenth Army Corps. Col. Thomas J. C. Amory of
the Seventeenth was acting brigadier.

Of our camp, which I have previously located, I should
say here, that, although it proved to be in some senses a per-
manent one, yet this fact could not be assumed beforehand.
Every thing in the soldier's life is, and must be in the nature
of the case, uncertain. AVe might at any moment have been
driven out or captured by the Confederates, or, without
notice, have been ordered up into Virginia, or sent to the
Southern coast with the great expedition which was fitted
out in our department during the winter. In fact, the regi-
ment was often absent (at one time as long as two weeks,
during the movements around Little Washington) ; but we
always finally returned to the first camp, so that we came
eventually to regard it as our home, and cheerfully devoted
time and labor to its grading, improvement, and ornamenta-
tion. Of the details of this work and of our life in camp, I

THE VOYAGE.

will write more in future. We had been a month in North
Carolina when events, matured as. indicated in the following
letter : —

Camp Rogers, Newbern-, Dec. 9, 1862.

, I despatched a letter to you this morning, and, shortly

after sending it, our orderly came to my. tent, and told me that I
was one of the three who had drawn the privilege of a day's liberty
to visit Newbern. So, after cleaning my gun from yesterday's
firing, otf I started for the Fifth Regiment, by way of Newbern,
which I found a place hardly worthy of a second visit, looking as
though nothing had been done to it for thirty years. I had, how-
ever, a very pleasant call ou Chaplain Snow of the Fifth, and also
on my Navy- Yard acquaintances in the Charlestown City Guard.

But the item that prompts this note to you is the fact that
we have received re-enforcements to-day (how many I cannot tell,
but I suppose not a very large number) ; and to-night, on dress-
parade, orders were read for us to be ready to march within thirty-
six hours, with three days' cooked rations, two blankets, one extra
pair of socks, without knapsacks, and, as is understood, without
breaking up the camp, and with seven days' rations in bulk. It is
probable that it is an expedition similar to the Tarboro march :
but of tliis we cannot tell, as we cannot even guess our destination.
I do not know what reports may reach you, so, little as it is, I
thought best to send you all I knew, as it is not likely that I shall
have a chance for some time of writing again. . . .

Our cooks were busy all night preparing our extra rations,
and in various ways our time during the next clay was fully
taken up. Such articles of clothing and bedding as were not
wanted, together with other personal articles, were either
packed in our knapsacks or strapped to them, and were
carried to a transport schooner, " The Skirmisher," which was
brought up to the upper bridge across the Trent. This led
us to think that we were not to return to Newbern, as we
reasoned that the schooner was to follow the column with
our equipments ; but it appeared afterward that it was only
for their safe keeping. The tents were allowed to remain
standiug, and were unmolested during our absence.

Some of the young men of the regiment were wild with
delight at the certainty of an en^acrement; but to most of

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

us the thought of the untried scenes which were before us,
possibly of wounds, imprisonment, and death, was not spe-
cially exhilarating. There was no depression, however, and"
no indication of irresolution ; nor was there in either of the
engagements which ensued.

Early on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 11, we were in line
on the parade-ground, prepared, as ordered, for the march.
Our colonel made a brief speech, enjoining us to obey orders,
to keep in our places, and assured us that he did not want us
to go anywhere that he did not lead. "We gave three cheers,
started in the direction of Newbern; and "The Great March"
was begrun.

THE GREAT MARCH. — KIN.STON.

CHAPTER HI.

THE GREAT MARCH. - KIN8T0N*.

THE morning was foggy. Our movement was made in
connection with Burnside's attack on Lee, at Freder-
icksburg, Va., and, at the moment we started, the pickets of
both armies were firing across the Rappahannock, through the
mist, at the flashes of their rifles, without seeing each other.
I will say here, that most of our marches in North Carolina
were made, more or less, in connection with the course of
events in Virginia. The great railroads were in operation
within the rebel lines; and troops were moved with such
facility upon them that we could have been driven out of
Newbern at any moment. And we should have been, un-
doubtedly, were it not that the gunboats would instantly
have recaptured the place.

We entered Newbern by the railroad-bridge, and found its
streets thronged witli troops of eveiy arm, all under similar
orders with ourselves. The town had been abandoned by its
inhabitants; but their places had been filled by fleeing slaves
from the interior. There was also a considerable number of
officers' wives, and some families of civilians connected in
various ways with the public service. The morning was
warm, the windows were open, and the faces of our fair
countrywomen told but too plainly of the severity of the
strain which the terrible experiences of war imposed upon
them. All shades of sorrowful expression, accompanied in
some cases with deathly pallor, were to be seen ; and I no-
ticed one instance of a lady, presumptively the wife of a
general officer, who was pacing to and fro in her parlor,
wringing her hands, withevery indication of poignant suffer-
ing. On the following sabbath we were passing through the

HISTORY OF TEE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3I.V.M.

streets of Kinston, and the few women who remained in their
homes received us in much the same manner. Whoever,
hereafter, succeeds in bringing' the true causes of the war to
light will find the richest veins of basic truth lying just be-
low the refined feminine sensibilities of the cultivated women
of the South. Their action in throwing their almost omni-
potent influence on the side of armed resistance to law was
a crime against the gentle nature of the sex.

The moviug columns, slowly and with frequent delay,
converged upon the road to Kinston ; the fog vanished ; and
by nine o'clock we were fairly on our march. Two-thirds of
the column was composed of us raw recruits, nine-months
men from Massachusetts : most of the rest were the remnants
of Burnside's original army, with which, six months before,
he had captured the seaports of the State ; the recent re-en-
forcements being mainly regiments whose depleted ranks told
an impressive story of the exposures of the Peninsular cam-
paign. Gen. Foster was an artillery officer, a veteran of the
Mexican war, one of the gallant band who had been shut up
in Sumter. He favored his own arm in fighting, and to this,
I apprehend, was due the fact, that, though our little army
only numbered at the most fifteen thousand men, we had
sixty pieces of artillery. His policy seemed to be to get his
guns within easy musket-range of the enemy, to pack his
infantry as closely around them as possible, lying on out-
faces, and then to blaze away.

One of these batteries, Morison's of New York, was com-
posed of brass guns called Napoleons. They were of very
large size and bore for field artillery, firing a six-inch round
shell. Their appearance was imposing ; but the reverbera-
tion from their brazen throats was terrific. One of the most
impressive sights that we witnessed was when they were
planted on the river-bank at Kinston, and opened their fire
upon the town.

We untried soldiers gazed with something of awe upon the
faces of the veterans of Roanoke Island and the fight at
Newbern. We heard them say to each other with easy non-
chalance^ "Something up now, sure ! " " You bet your life on

THE GREAT MARCH. — KINSTOX.

that ! " " This means business," etc. The Erie Canal of New
York, and the mines of Pennsylvania, had sent their quotas
of sturdy men. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecti-
cut were well represented among the veterans. New Jersey
was there in the gallant Ninth, and, by our association with
these brave men, we returned to Newbern with sufficient
experience and reputation to be intrusted with the defence
of the coast, while most of the veterans were withdrawn
to other departments.

Our march the first day was to a plantation on the New-
bern side of what, afterwards became known to us as Deep
Gully. We were not opposed, and rested quietly during the
night. Much to the surprise of us new-comers, no tents were
furnished. We had supposed that flies, at least, would be
provided; but they were not, and it was a puzzle to us to
know what we should do in case of rain or snow. We
learned however, before our return, that rubber blankets can
be so utilized, even in the open air, as to answer nearly, if not
quite, as well as the thin, small, inconvenient sheets of cotton-
cloth, two of which united constitute a fly-tent. In cold
weather, soldiers are obliged, when on the march, to sleep as
close to each other as is possible for the sake of the warmth.
This liberates at least half of the blankets, as they are not
needed underneath the body: in such cases, the half thus
liberated are placed on top of the sleeping ranks, protecting
the soldier and his woollen blanket. These last, it should be
further stated, are duplicated by the same process ; so that
each man has at least one thickness .of rubber, and two or
three of woollen, both underneath and over him. I have
repeatedly seen men sleep quietly, while covered in this
manner, during a drenching thunder-shower. As the warm
season approached, flies were given to us ; but they were not
acceptable, and, if circumstances allowed it, we hutted our-
selves in preference to using them.

As the regiments and batteries reached the plantation,
they were ranged in line, and released from duty, with the
exception of a detail for guard, and the pioneers. The first
matter to be attended to was the gathering of fence-rails for

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

our fires, to be kept up during the night. These were usually
close at hand, and of excellent material, as the plantations of
this portion of the State are fenced, in zigzag style, with hard-
pine split rails without posts. Our fires kindled, we cooked
our coffee in our tin dippers, with as much jarring, jostling,
aud wrangling with each other, as if we had been English
sparrows, instead of friendly and social comrades. " There,
you've upset my dipper! 'Twas just ready to boil. I thought
you would. Confound you, you clumsy lout ! why couldn't
you be a little more careful?" Sometimes it would seem as
though two of the best fellows in the company had sworn
mutual and deadly enmity to each other for the rest of the
term of service. But somehow or other, though nearly all of
us fell from grace more or less in respect to these exposures,
the circumstances were so trying, that we forgave each other
immediately.

This done, we devoted ourselves to levelling the hills
which remained from the last crop of corn or cotton, spread
our blankets in the manner I have described, and composed
ourselves for the night.

With the first gray light of the morning we were up, and
engaged in cooking our breakfasts, in which I should include
the roasting, in the accumulated ashes of the night, of what
sweet potatoes we had been able to lay our hands on. The
lack of utensils prevented us from cooking any meat or poul-
try, with the exception of one night during which we were
encamped in the streets of Kinston, when we made a free use
of the pots and kettles found in the houses.

When our regiment was near the head of the column, we
moved early: if we had no intimation of this, we prepared
ourselves fully for a sudden start, and rested upon our blan-
kets after they were rolled up, ready to be slung over one
shoulder, which was the way we carried them. During the
night we heard the axes of our pioneers employed in remov-
ing the first obstruction we had met. The Confederates had
got sufficient notice of our coming to block the road for
some distance by the felling of large trees. It requires but
one cut to level a tree ; but, as it lies across the highwav, it

THE GREAT MARCH, — KINSTON.

takes ordinarily two cuts to remove it : at any rate this
was the ease in this instance. Our men had had a hard
night's work ; but they had accomplished it, so that we were
not delayed an instant. This was a foretaste of one class of
the obstacles which were met by the column. Bridges were
burned, or sawed in such a manner, as to require propping.
Mill-dams were sluiced, so as to deluge us with water; and,
in various ways incidental to the possession of the enforced
labor of the slaves and the irregular action of guerillas, we
were harassed and delayed to give time for the collection of
the trained forces of the army to resist us.

One incident of our march must not be omitted. The
small streams and creeks of North Carolina run through gul-
lies, or low places, which they have worn for themselves in
the course of ages, and we found them quite swollen with
water. They recur at frequent intervals, and were, in some
cases, well up to our thighs. They were corduroyed ; that is,
the lowest and muddiest parts had been covered with logs or
thick plank. Our artillery in passing through would crush
these in their centres so as to raise their ends sufficiently
high to trip us, yet not high enough to show above the
water. The consequence was, that all of us were wet up to
our bodies ; and quite often some luckless fellow would get
a plunge into the muddy stream, not very favorable to his
health or comfort, or the preservation of his ammunition.

Many of these low places had a line of trees, which had
been felled, and placed end to end with each other on rhe side
of the road, and elevated sufficiently above it on crotched
sticks to make a rude bridge, which we passed in single file.
This, however, was usually more or less out of order and
\mreliable. Being round sticks, we jostled each other as we
crowded upon them; so that after, we were once wet, many
of us preferred to take our chances in the road rather than
run the risk of being thrown off from the bridge.

Early in the forenoon of the second day, we came to the
primitive dwelling of one of the " poor whites." Its owner
and his family were out in front of it. Their appearance,
in connection with their local surroundings, was unthrifty

44 HISTORY OF THE FOETY-TUIRD EEGIMENT, M.V.M.

and illiterate in the extreme. They seemed in dread of per-
sonal violence ; but they appeared to have been unmolested.
In deprecating our anger, the}" had extemporized the na-
tional colors out of white cloth with stripes stitched on it.
By a ludicrous blunder which illustrated their ignorance,
the "colors" were set "union down;". so that what was evi-
dently intended to conciliate us was really, in its outward
form, an insult. The trepidation, however, of the family
was too evident to allow us to take offence at the mistake.
A lieutenant of our regiment contemptuously tore the rag

down, and we left them to their ignorance and poverty. -

As we passed on in our inarch, wo came, at frequent inter-
vals, to the ruins of what had been large plantation-houses ;
the chimneys now, for the most part, being all that was left.
These were the sad memorials of the fierce contests with
rebel pickets and guerilla parties, which had raged during
the previous summer. To the great credit of a worthy citi-
zen of Massachusetts, of the Masonic order, who had visited
the State as a peacemaker previous to our arrival, these
bloody and useless contests had ceased by mutual consent.

Towards the afternoon of the second day we began to have
evidence that we were in an enemy's country- by seeing
occasionally a dead body by the roadside, slain by our cav-
alry, and also prisoners. On Saturday there was continuous
though not rapid firing of artillery on our right, in the direc-
tion of the Kiver Neuse, as we approached Kinston: this
proved to be an engagement at South-west Creek.

This stream crossed our march at light angles. At the
point where we were expected by the rebels, they had pre-
pared formidable intrench ments : but Gen. Foster avoided
these by crossing the creek farther to the west. The firing
which we heard was from our cavalry, which was provided
with light howitzer cannon, with which they engaged the
attention of the enemy, while the Ninth New Jersey and
Twenty-third Massachusetts forded the stream above and be-
low a bridge, and captured their gnus.

We w<-re halted for an hour while this transpired, and
while the bridge, which the enemy burned, was replaced.

r—

THE GREAT MARCH.— KIN STON. 45

We lay in line of battle, but were not further engaged. At
this time we saw at a distance a sight which reminded me
vividly of the experience of our English ancestors here in
New England. Some guerillas, closely pressed by onr cav-
alry, tuok refuge in a large plantation-house, aud defended
themselves from their foes, with their muskets, from the
chamber-windows. We saw the guns pointing downwards,
and the light clouds of smoke which followed the report.
The sight brought forcibly before my mind the time when
our forefathers were subjected to similar exposures, in the
early history of our countiy, in resisting the French and
Indians.

On Sunday forenoon, about ten o'clock, rapid artillery-
firing commenced at the head of our column, which at the
moment was about a mile in advance of our regiment. The
infantiy was immediately halted, and opened to the right
and left of the narrow road ; while cavalry and artillery went
to the front at headlong speed. The artillery-firing con-
tinued, increasing in volume without being very rapid. One
after another, the infantiy regiments Avent into position as
they came up, and opened their fire ; the first volley being
well defined and massive, as when an ocean-wave falls
heavily upon a, beach, and then being followed by the con-
fused uproar of firing at will. Our eyes, however, aided us
but little in observing these occurrences, as the action took
place in the forest, there being barely openings enough to
handle the troops. While we were watching and listening
with all our faculties, expecting every moment orders to go
in ourselves, I observed that shells were exploding in the
tops of the trees, which were about a hundred feet high. I
supposed that our gunboats had succeeded in passing the
obstructions in the river, and were attacking the enemy, as I
did not think that our field-batteries could throw a shell so
high in the air at so short a range. But I soon noticed that
the missiles were smaller than the licet would be likely to use,
and I was mystified. When we reached the guns, a short
time after, I found that their trails were buried deep in the
ground, so that the cannon pointed up into the air.

HIS J OUT OF. THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

While these matters were transpiring, we remained a half
hour or move in the road. We were then taken into a field,
or open place on the right, to support a battery. We were
formed in line of battle, and enjoined by our officers to keep
our places, and fire coolly and low. After a while we were
marched out into the road, and toward the front. We soon
met the wounded and dead being brought out on stretchers
and ambulances, and immediately found ourselves on the
scene of action. We could see nothing, however, but the
forest, with narrow openings ; but our ears gave us abundant
evidence of a hotly contested battle within the leafy coverts
before us. As we continued to advance, we became con-
scious that a shower of bullets was whistling in the air at
some distance over our heads, and we received orders to lie
down. While here, I was conscious of a singular and unex-
pected experience. The rebel arms must have been mostly
smooth-bores. There was none of the whizzing, screeching
sound so characteristic of rifle-balls ; but in its stead the noise
of the leaden storm which was upon us was a soft and im-
pressive sighing, like that of zephyrs in a forest of pines, —
somewhat louder, it is true, but in a high degree soothing
and pleasant. I thought of the story of Washington, where-
in he is asserted- to have said, when he was young, that
musket-balls made the sweetest of music to him.

In a few moments we were again ordered forward. Pro-
ceeding some five hundred feet, we filed sharply to the right,
marching between two lines of battle, composed of New-
York and Pennsylvania troops. — so near them on either side
that we could speak with each other. Their officers stood
with drawn swords, composed and soldierly ; but the bearing
of the men was different. Almost without exception, they
were pale : most of them were excited. Some cheered us :
others greeted us with slang. Many seemed ready to drop
to the ground with fatigue and anxiety: some, indeed, had
lain down in sheer exhaustion. Passing them, we came out
of the fore>t into a large open space at the extreme right of
our line, live hundred feet wide of. more ami ;i quarter of a
mile long. Here we also found the batter V with their trails

TUE CHEAT MARCH. — KINST02T. 47

buried In the ground : they had ceased firing. At the ex-
tremity of this field, as it appeared to us, an enemy's earth-
work was visible ; whether occupied or not, we could not tell.
Our hearts tie v.' quick for a few moments at this discovery.
We had just noticed, as above stated, that the troops we had
passed were iu a peculiar condition of excitement, and we
understood afterwards that they expected that the rebels
would open fire on us the moment we emerged from the
forest. "We ascertained at the close of the action that the
Neuse rolled between us and the fort ; but, if the enemy had
been in condition to prolong the fight on the other bank, we
should have been no better off on account of the river, for
the fort was evidently built to sweep the plain upon which
we had entered.

We were now at the very tiptoe of expectation. For
more than an hour we had been in a suspense that weighed
heavily upon us. Every face showed sharply cut lines. The
officers had dismounted, and it seemed to us that we were to
plunge at once into the thickets in our front : they seemed
as solid as a stone wall. We knew that we could advance
but a short distance in that direction without receiving a
volley. The men began to throw away their blankets, but
were instantly checked by the colonel. One of the boys of
our company replied, in respectful expostulation, "Colonel,
there is no fun in fighting with our blankets on." The
colonel replied with gravity, " Fighting is not fun anyway."

We did not, however, enter the swamp, but moved slowly,
in line of battle, diagonally along the field, our right flank
being somewhat in advance, occasionally halting, using great
caution, and keeping our hands, as it were, on the triggers of
our guns, as we were likely at any moment to receive the
enemy's fire, and would undoubtedly have done so were it
not that they were hotly pressed by our regiments in their
front and right. By this time it was long past noon. The
heavy volleys in (he woods ceased, and the cheers that fol-
lowed told us that our men wen- sucessfully charging. We
could dimly sue through the undergrowth long lines of men
centring upon the rebel position, and could note the few

HISTORY OF THE FORTY- THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

desultory shots that were fired, the despairing efforts of the
brave men who for nearly three hours had resisted our
attack.

What a colossal war ! Ten thousand men had grappled
each other by the throat, and fought for hours with desper-
ate energy; and yet, in comparison with the gigantic contests
of Virginia and the West, this and other engagements of
North Carolina are hardly thought worthy of a few lines in
the records of the Rebellion.

CHAPLAIN MANNING'S LETTER TO
JOURNAL."

THE BOSTON

Dec. 23, 1862.
The battle of Kinston, which began near noon, was over be-
tween three and four p.m. Then it was that ghastly and horrible
sights met the eye on all sides. The buildings taken as hospitals
were soon crowded with the wounded and dying. Friends and
foes mingled together, and receiving the same prompt attention
from our bus}' surgeons. It seemed strange that no rebel surgeon
had staid to care for his comrades. Cut in our kindness we forgot
that they were foes, and gave them all the heed which our duty to
the loyal would admit. The Tenth Connecticut and the Hundred
and Third Pennsylvania had been the chief sufferers. The Forty-
fifth Massachusetts, also, lost several men. ... In answer to the
inquiries of friends as to the behavior of Massachusetts soldiers
during the battle, I can say freeb" that they showed no signs of
flinching, but only eagerness to be foremost in the fight. To lie
still under fire, hearing the tremendous discharges of artillery, and
sharp volleys and irregular rattle of musketry in the woods, tried
their courage not a little. . . .

Shortly after we came upon the open field, a rebel soldier
was seen in the road which ran along the river-bank, waving
a white flag : this, as we afterwards understood it, was a ruse
to gain time for the retreat of his associates. He was not
molested, however, because he was so far from us that we
could not tell at once, with certainty, whether he was a
friend or foe. Meanwhile a company of cavalry, and section
of artillery, which had been moving down the field upon our
right flank as slowly as ourselves, went rapidly forward to

THE GREAT MARCH.— KINSTOX' 49

the river-bank as the foe retreated. The cavalry were armed,
with repeat! ng-rifl.es. They formed line in our sight, and fired
upon the fleeing army, as they crossed the bridge, till their
pieces were empty, and then reloaded and fired again with
great rapidity. The artillery did not reach the river-bank in
season to fire. We could not see the. enemy; but, when we
crossed the bridge shortly after, it gave good evidence of the
accuracy of the aim of the cavalry. The rebels made des-
perate efforts to burn it, without success. One of our colonels
lost his life at this point. And the brave fellow who was
intrusted with the application of the torch fell lifeless into
the flames, and his body was shockingly burned before the
fire was extinguished. Very much to our vexation, we could
not see the struggle at this point, as the forest still inter-
vened. The Massachusetts Seventeenth, with which regi-
ment Col. Fellows and his son of Chelsea were honorably
connected, had been closely following the artillery and horse-
men, moving by the flank down the field upon our right.
At this point the action may be said to have ceased, though
there was an afterpiece. Our regiment stacked arms near
the road, which we had reached ; and the men, by the per-
mission of the colonel scattered for foraging, being allowed
to take any thing upon which we could lay our hands with-
out the use of fire-arms. Before we had all dispersed, however,
a somewhat ludicrous incident happened, quite appropriate
to the occasion in some respects, but in others so singularly
contrasted with the scenes through which we had just passed,
as to forcibly remind us that it is but a step from the sublime
to the ridiculous. On and around the battle-field were a
number of the humble houses of the " poor whites " of the
South. Suddenly, and much to our surprise, an aged couple
of this class appeared before us, and passed slowly along the
regimental line. They were followed at a respectful distance
by a smart colored girl, quite attractive in her bearing and
appearance. I must say that the man and his wife were
about as forlorn-looking old crones as ever I laid eyes on.
In dress aud manner their appearance was abject and humili-
ating to the last degree. If the Gibeonites were half as

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.3I.

effective in their counterfeit woe as these poor people were
in thoir real one, I do not wonder that the heart of the great
captain, Joshua, melted at their sight. By themselves alone
they would only have been looked upon with pity by the
most thoughtless of our number. But the best part of the
story remains to be told. The "gal" was bright enough to
take in the comic side of the situation, and make the most
of it. She was all gayety and fun. Not a word did she say ;
but by facial expression, attitude, and gesture, she read, in
her irresistibly sarcastic manner, an indictment of the whole
South, about as follows: "Aren't they a set of fools? Here
they have gone and stirred up all this row on our account,
and now we are being liberated, and they are losing, not only
us, but all their movables." Oddly enough, the squealing
of swine and the distressed cackling of poultry was being
heard all around ac the same moment, proving that the ap-
peal for protection that the poor old people were making was
altogether too late. As I have intimated, the effect upon
our risibles was irresistible. The whole regiment was con-
vulsed with laughter at the superb by-play of the wench, and
its contrast with the woebegone aspect of her former owners.
They were so engrossed in their sorrow, that they did not
notice that she was making game of them. If they hap-
pened to look back an instant, she was apparently as demure
and downcast as a nun. Evidently they did not have the
least idea of what was going on behind them. I have no
doubt but that in their hearts they roundly cursed us as a
set of cruel wretches.

I have spoken of the after-scene. We had stacked arms,
and most of the men were gone to the field of action through
curiosity, or to the farms for food. I had found a few
moments to step into the lines of the Forty-fifth, which had
lost heavily, — fifteen killed and forty-three wounded. They
were looking very grave. I also passed into the ranks of the
Twenty-third, finding this gallant regiment in a high state of
mental exaltation on account of their satisfaction at whipping
the South-Carolina Twenty-third, with which regiment they
had been fighting, taking bixty-three prisoners, with small

THE GREAT MARCH.— KIN STOX. 51

loss on their own part. On returning to my own company
I got back just in time to receive the order to "fall in " for
an advance. The line-officers were shouting vehemently,
and all was excitement and confusion. Those of us who
were present obeyed the order, leaving the guns of our com-
rades lying on the ground, as we unstacked them in a manner
not laid down in the manual.

The whole brigade was marched across the bridge to
Kinston. Simultaneously with this order, two of the brass
Napoleons on the river-bank close to us opened on Kinston.
firing over the town, which lay plainly in sight about a half-
mile off across a meadow. Our comrades who had scattered
heard the noise, and followed us as fast as posssible ; so that,
by the time we reached the town, our ranks were full.

The occasion of our sudden and unexpected call was as
follows: it appears to have been the intention of Gen. Foster
that we should remain over night where we were ; but the
rebels made as though the fight would be prolonged on the
northern outskirts of Kinston: hence the artillery-fire, and
our own change of camp.

Months afterwards I came across a rude lyric, deeply
tinged with the wail of humanity, with which I will close
the account of this, our first engagement. As originally
printed, some repetitions give roorn for suspicion that the
brave fellow who wrote it enlisted and went to the front in
such a hurry, that he left his book of " synonymes " at home.
I have endeavored to act a comrade's part in making a few
omissions and corrections.

THE BATTLE OF KIXSTOX.

WRITTEN* BY J. L. AULT, COMPANY C, HUNDRED AXD FIRST REGIMENT,
PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS.

Oh, listen! -while I tell you, boys,

Of Kinston's bloody tight, —
The deafeniug peals, the cannon's noise:

Perhaps you saw that sight.

The morn had dawned, — the sabbath day

That God has made and blest
For all his people on their way

To the land of heavenly rest.

£>2 HISTORY OF TUE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

But a sullen foe before us waits;

A furious storm is near;
And each one thinks of coming fate

Approaching very clear.

What's this that's coming down the lane,

Making such a rattle ?
'Tis our guns : you see the iron train

Rushing into battle.

!" Bang, bang! " the mighty cannons roar
In awful thunder dread;
And through the trees our missiles tore
The branches o'er their heads.

We met them in a swampy mire,

Where they were all concealed,
To rise, and pour a deadly fire,

And drive us from the field.

Oh, fearful is the uproar now

Of arms on every side;
While blood is gushing from the brow,

And wounds are opened wide.

" Charge on, brave boys! " our colonels shout,

" We'll surely make them yield; "
And pressing on they drove them out,

And won the battle-field.

Quick, quick! the bridge they're passing o'er;

They are making for the town ;
They're trying to reach the other shore

Before the bridge burns down.

The fire's put out — we flanked them there;

But some have crossed the stream:
The deafening shouts that rend the air

Give grandeur to the scene.

My first look across the Neuse, when I came up to the
river, which at this point was a rapid stream three hundred
feet at least in width, was for the retreating enemy, and
then for our own army. The first were not visible. I under-
stand that they took to the woods on the northern bank of

THE GREAT 2IARC1I. — KIXSTON. 53

the river as soon as they had crossed. Our own troops made
a more imposing display than I saw at any other time. They.
had deployed, and were crossing' the meadow toward the
town in three or more lines of battle, marching en echelon, as
it is termed, — a French military phrase frequently used in
drilling by brigade. In advancing in this manner, the sev-
eral lines of battle lap past each other ; so that, if the front
line should lose heavily, the one next in the rear can till
the vacancies by moving to the front, or, if the nature of the
ground and the points to be assaulted require it, the width
of the front of the column can be extended or reduced,
something as a brass slide is pulled out of a carpenter's
measuring-rule.

The Forty-third marched by the flank, in ranks of four,
across the meadow, and through Kinston, over to the northern
side of the town, observing as we went the effect of one of
our shells which had exploded in the attic-chamber of a cot-
tage, shattering the gable-end of the house. We noticed no
other damage of that kind to the place. By this time the
afternoon was far advanced, and, finding that the rebels had
retreated, we returned to the centre of the town, and prepared
to pass the night in the streets and back-yards.

During that night Gen. Foster sent the following despatch
to Washington : —

Headquarters Department of North Carolina,
Kixsto.v, N.C., Dec. 14, lStiS.

To Majok-Gen\ Halleck, General in Chief.

I have the honor to inform you that I left Newborn for this place
on the 11th inst. ; but owing to bad roads and the consequent
delay to my trains, etc., I did not reach the South-west Creek, five
miles from this town, until the afternoou of the 13th inst. The
enemy were posted there ; but, by a heavy artillery-fire in front and
a vigorous infantry-attack on either flank, I succeeded in forcing
a passage, and without much loss.

This morning I advanced on the town, and found the enemy,
strongly posted at a defile through a marsh, fording a creek. The
position was so well chosen, that but little of the artillery could be
brought in play.

54 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M. .

The main attack, therefore, was made by the infantry, assisted
by a few guns pushed forward in the roads. After a five-hours'
hard fight, we succeeded in driving the enemy from their position.
AVe followed them rapidly to the river. The bridge over the Neuse
at this point was prepared for firing, and was fired in six places ;
but we were so close behind them, that we saved the bridge. The
enemy retreated precipitately by the Goldsborough and Pikeville
roads. Their force was about six thousand men, with twenty
pieces of artillery.

The result is, we have taken Kinston, captured eleven pieces of
artillery, and taken from four hundred to five hundred prisoners,
and found a large amount of quartermaster and commissary stores.
Our loss will not probably exceed two hundred killed and wounded.
I am with great respect,

Your obedient servant,
John Gi-. Foster, Major-Gnneral commanding.

It seems to me, that, in preparing this record, it should be
written in such a manner as to set forth truly and. impres-
sively the ravages of war and the sufferings it occasions both
to victors and vanquished. In order to do this, I will address
myself directly to my Chelsea friends and readers, and ask
what they would think of the following proceedings. Sup-
pose that ten thousand men of all arms should enter the
streets of our quiet city kite some sabbath afternoon, after
having been four days in inarching, as I judge about forty-
five miles, and that during the last of these days many of
them had fought a closely contested action of nearly three
hours' duration in Revere or Everett, in which they have lost
heavily. Eight men out of every ten are infantry, who have
carried the weight of thirty-five pounds, at the lowest esti-
mate, on their persons. Their boots have been ground in
sand and water until they are as leaky as sieves, and it is an
open question with the wearers whether or not they are not
more of a burden than a benefit to the feet they were de-
signed to protect. Those .same feet, it being understood, in
many cases areas much worn and chafed as the boots.

These men, it should be stated, have marched, most of the
way, at the top of their speed, with but brief opportunities

THE GREAT MARCH. — KINSTON. 55

for rest, often double-quicking in order to close up gaps in
the column, halting usually late in the evening. Many of
them have performed extra labor during the nights, — of
guard, fatigue, or pioneer duty. Their food has been of the
plainest kind, — salt beef, hard tack, and coffee, varied some-
what with sweet potatoes. The beef has become so monoto-
nous and stale, that the stomach loathes it ; and the longing
for soft and palatable food has set many of them, for the first
time in their lives, into involuntary dreams during the day
concerning what they shall eat and what they shall drink ;
the visions which float pleasantly in airy fancies through their
minds being of well-spread tables at which they used formerly
to sit, but which are now so impossible of fulfilment as to
tantalize them. Their beds have been so hard, their fatigue
so extreme, and they so crowded for room as they have lain,
that, after the first nap of an hour or two, a heavy, troubled
doze is the nearest approach they can make to their usual
quiet sleep at home. The days are hot; but the night air is
so cold, that the ice must be broken by shaking their canteens
before drinking. These conditions of the march are about
an average experience, the most irksome and exhaustive of
them all being the enormous burden carried. This I will
itemize : 1st, the gun, eight pounds; '2d, one hundred rounds
of ball-cartridges, another eight or ten pounds (I weighed
them all at the time, but have not the exact figures now) ;
then, in about the following order, the haversack, canteen,
belts and plates, cap-box, and, slung over the shoulder, the
rubber and woollen blankets, worse than all the rest, because
so bulky. All these must be carried, besides extra socks,
and any personal articles needed. A five-gallon can of kero-
sene weighs about twenty-eight pounds: so that nearly ten
pounds in addition would be required to fill out the list I
have given. All this, it should be kept in mind, must be
carried over narrow roads rutted deeply by artillery, and in
the midst of a crowding, hustling mob of weary soldiers,
often surly to the men of any other regiment than their own,
as you will soon learn, if, from any cause, you press on or lag
behind.

56 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 2LY.il.

Do you doubt, or fail to realize, dear reader, what this
means? If so, I wish that you would just take the aforesaid
can, or some other article equally heavy, — say a large-sized
full coal-hod, — leaving off all the rest, and start for Boston
with it some fine morning, across the bridge : you can soon
find out in this way what soldiering means. You will under-
stand that you can change the can from one hand to the
other, or set it on the ground and rest, but please observe
that the soldier cannot do this. All his luggage must be fas-
tened to his person : his arms and hands must be free to use
his weapon at any moment. Theoretically, of course, his
traps can be taken off as they were put on ; but practically
his situation is such that he can only readily relieve himself
of his blankets. When once out on in the morning, his other
equipments must remain on. Every soldier can recall the
convulsive throb or jerk by which the sorely jaded men
struggled for a moment's relief by throwing their equipments
upwards, thus easing the shoulders for an instant.

I have been, writing of the burdens of war as experienced
by the soldiers of a conquering column, as ours was. They
are terrible. I dare not speak of individual instances of
suffering in our own company which I saw ; but 1 must gen-
eralize.

I saw the men of the Forty-fifth, which was as fine a regi-
ment as any in the service, fall out by the dozen on the
■ morning of the day before the battle of Kinston. The road
on either side was lined with them; and it did not require a
second look to satisfy the observer that they were not shirks
or cowards, for extreme suffering was marked upon every
line of their faces. What a condition the wounded of their
number must have been in to pass under the surgeon's hands
the next day ! If these were the trials of the victors, what
must be the situation of the vanquished! And how are the
communities treated who have the ill fortune to be ground
between the upper and the nether millstones of contending
armies! I should state here, that the line-officers of an in-
fantry regiment are, to a large extent, fellow-sufferers with >j
their subordinates. They march on foot, as the soldiers do.

THE GREAT MARCH. — KIN STON. 57

and they are, in addition, so burdened with mental responsi-
bilities that their vital powers are heavily drawn upon. It
is next to impossible for them to look sharply after all that
is going on, and maintain strict or even reasonable discipline ;
and much of the irregular proceedings of victorious troops
when entering towns or cities originates from this cause.

I have supposed the entrance of such a column as this into
Chelsea ; their faces so blackened by powder and camp-fires,
and their clothing so grimed by mud, that the intimate
friends of the members of Company II would not have been
able at once to recognize us. I saw during the march some
of the most dashing line-officers of the regiment with their
boots slung on their swords, and the sword on their shoulder,
their legs being bare.

The artillery and cavalry halt in the squares and wider
streets: the infantry occupy the narrow ones from one end
to the other, — Division, Cherry, Poplar, and Ash, from Wil-
liams Street to Washington Avenue. To make the illustra-
tration compare as near as possible with the circumstances at
Kinston, we will take it for granted that there are no dwell-
ings on these streets, but that they are simply the back-yards
of the houses on the wide streets.

The next thing that will follow is this : the instant that
the soldiers are dismissed from the ranks, all the fences and
out-buildings are levelled to the ground, and roaring fires are
kindled with the material. The next step is to enter the
houses, asking for cooking-utensils, and taking them if they
are not voluntarily yielded. Then, after eating supper, boards
are placed upon the earth, the houses are entered again, and
all the bedding is brought out and laid upon the boards for
the use of the most footsore and exhausted. All desirable
conveniences come with them as a matter of course, — stuffed
chairs, washing-utensils, mirrors, and other things too numer-
ous to mention. In one case that I know of, a partv
entered a house in this way, and found themselves in the
nick of time to sit down to a hearty meal prepared for the
inmates, who stood by and saw it rapidly disappear without «]

remonstrance. I lie houses are ransacked from cellar to gar-

58 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

ret : articles of no possible use to the takers, such as ladies'
silk dresses, are appropriated, to be thrown away the nest
day. In one sense, a reign of terror exists. Yet I should
leave the reader with a wrong impression, if I did not further
state that there was little or no violence used. Most of the
residents had left, and this fact largely accounts for these
proceedings. Those who remained had the sense to see that
we were not ugly, and, where they used fair speech, they
escaped the worst of the license of the soldiery.

There was a large fire in the town during the night, and
some plundering of tobacco warehouses ; but of these things
as an eye-witness I cannot make any report. Some time in
the evening I lay down alone on the sidewalk ; and the last
thing that I remember hearing above the din and confusion
was the sweet notes of the band of the Forty-fifth, which
lulled me to sleep. The night was warm, the only comforta-
ble one we had on the march, and I slept soundly till morn-
ing, — the first and last full night's rest during the march.

In making the comparison between the two localities, I
should have stated that I reckon Kinston to have been,
at that time, a place of perhaps two thousand inhabitants,
and about the dimensions of Chelsea before it included
Caryville. You may judge, Mr. Editor, what a fine column
of local items "The Kinston Pioneer'' for the next week
must have had. If I have not succeeded in impressing upon
my readers the fearful havoc of war, as seen in some of the
least of its evils, all that I could further do, as a last desper-
ate resource, would be to improvise something in the same
vein as Dibdin's famous sea-song, " Ye gentlemen of England
who live at home at ease,'' set it to music for the piano, and
during its rehearsal in the pleasant homes of Chestnut and
other Chelsea streets, I should suggest perambulating the
household, taking an inventory of personal goods and chat-
tels, with an occasional look at the back-yards and fences.

I think I hoar some one inquiring, "If you Massachusetts
men, just from home, 'cut up' in this manner, pray tell us
what the rebels would have done here?" The answer is at
hand. In the autumn of 1862, to quote from Carleton's
"Four Years of Fighting," —

THE GREAT 3IAECH. — EINSTOX. 59

"The centre column of the rebels moved upon Frankfort, Ky.,
gathering up cuttle, horses, goods of all kinds, cloths, clothes,
boots, shoes, grain, and every thing which could minister to their
comfort as they came. At Frankfort they invited the merchants
to open their stores, made princely purchases of goods, paying
liberally in the legal currency of the Confederacy, sending off long
lines of wagons toward the South, laden with supplies."

This, be it understood, was the way they dealt with their
friends. If they had come into Chelsea, every store would
have been gutted at once without the pretence of payment,
the private residences treated far worse than we did those of
Kinston, and in addition the city would have been mulcted
in a fine of money as large as could be squeezed out of us.
For proof of what I am saying, the inquirer is referred to the
conduct of the rebel army in Pennsylvania just before the
battle of Gettysburg.

In an allusion a short distance above, I have set the dis-
tance we had marched at about forty-five miles. By a direct
line it is but thirty; but we had made a long detour to the
westward for strategic purposes. " Harper's Review," for
December, 1864, contains an article entitled " Heroic Deeds
of Heroic Men,-' from the pen of J. S. C. Abbott, giving a
history of military movements in North Carolina up to that
date. It has a map which locates our camp on Saturday night
far to the north-west of Trenton, — too far, in my opinion,
for accuracy, as we could not have reached, from that point,
the battle-field at Kinston so early on sabbath morning as we
did. There is no doubt, however, that our route was very
circuitous.

On Monday morning, Dec. 15, we were up bright and
early, and on the road, retracing our steps. We passed again
over the bridge, which was burned some time during the
forenoon, after all of the troops had recrossed the river.
This brought us directly upon the battle-field. The first
thing that we noticed was a church, — a forlorn, unpainted,
barn-like structure, standing directly in the line of our fire.
Its appearance may lie imagined. It had escaped the most
ruinous effects of shell ; but its weather-worn and shrivelled

60 DISTORT OF THE FORTY-TIHBB REGIMENT, M.V.M.

walls and roof were so perforated by musket-balls and small
fragments of shell, that scarcely a hand-breadth of uninjured
surface remained. As Ave marched on over the dark and
bloody grounds so recently the scene of deadly strife, we
passed occasionally the corpse of a Union soldier, the limbs
composed in the decencies of death, and the cap drawn over
the face, concealing the features as they had taken their last
look at the King of Terrors, and received the impression of
his awful visage. At our left, a short distance, the greater
portion of our fallen heroes lay, enranked in death as they
had marched and fought in life ; the sad sight being some-
what alleviated to the outward sense by the thick under-
growth which covered the ground, partially enveloping their
bodies, as if Nature herself yearned to take them tenderly
to her bosom. Marching rapidly on, with many a sorrowful
remark to each other, we came upon the ground which inter-
vened between the contending forces: and here one of the
most impressive of sights met our view. It was, as already
stated, thickly wooded with trees of all sizes, from an inch
up to a foot or more in diameter. The bark was literally all
of it scraped from the trunks up as high in the air as thirty
feet. Some of the largest-sized trees were cut completely
off by the explosion of shells at the instant they struck:
great branches were torn from them, and, generally speaking,
the view was one of horrid desolation.

I saw no earthworks which might have sheltered the ene-
my ; and it is almost inconceivable to me how five thousand
men could have resisted, so long as they did, such a tire as
we directed against them, or how our own forces, engaged at
such short range, could have escaped without even heavier
loss than occurred. The enemy were commanded by Gen.
Evans of Ball's Bluff fame. We captured six hundred men
and several cannon. It is said that many were killed, and
their corpses thrown into the river to conceal their loss.

I judge that every soldier of intelligence and character
comes out of his first battle with an internal experience
which tells upon all of his future military life. It was so at \

least with me ; for 1 passed on with a buoyant step as we

THE CHEAT MARCH. — KINSTON. 61

countermarched over the very ground upon which, only
twenty-four hours before, I had been heavily burdened from
a moral cause. Among the sharp corners which I had to
turn as I passed the anxious hour before entering the recruit-
~„ ing-tent in Winnisimmet Square, the most acute angle pre-

sented itself in the shape of a large .personal development
of that remarkable growth of modern times called "humani-
tarianism," which I define sufficiently clearly for present
purposes as the indisposition or moral inability to inflict or
even to witness pain. Obliged by the nature of my calling
to be an occasional observer of shocking accidents from
machinery, falling from aloft, etc., I confess I was compelled
to ask myself some very pointed questions en this subject.
If your sympathies are so strong that you cannot witness,
without extreme suffering, these exposures of civil life, are
you not mistaken in the idea that you are called to perform
a soldier's duty? The question was not answered to my
satisfaction until I had passed through the scenes of Kinston :
there the burden was lifted from my mind. Singularly
enough, although I had little in this respect to test me on
that field, I came off from it thoroughly assured that I need
not carry any weight from that cause in future, and my
experience afterward confirmed the correctness of my con-
clusion.

Our ambulance corps was web organized; and the condi-
tions of the fight at Kinston enabled them to care immedi-
ately fur the wounded, bringing them off the field in closed
vehicles. Although but a short distance from them, we were
not near enough to hear their moans. The few dead that I
saw as we pressed forward, were covered with blankets ; so
that I do not recall a single instance of the repulsive sight
of wounds and blood, deathly faces, or agonizing groans
such as I afterwards witnessed and heard at Whitehall, and
later on, in the spring of 18G3, at Blount's Creek. Yet, as I
have said, I passed through an internal experience which
gave me confidence in myself. Much to my surprise, the
heavy discharges of artillery elevated my mental and moral
energies, instead cf depressing them. If I had realized in

62 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD BEGIMENT, M.V.M.

Chelsea under what conditions of extreme exhaustion I
should go into battle, I should have said at once, " I can never
withstand these moral weaknesses with such depression of
the physical energies." To my great astonishment, I was
taken up into the realm of profound emotion: a solemn awe
possessed my soul as the momentous conditions of life and
death under which we are living in' our earthly relations
moved upon me. I do not say that I was entirely freed from
apprehension or mental suffering; but I was delivered from
the dread anticipation, which had haunted me for months, of
loss of self-control.

We marched on rapidly all that day. The course of the
column might have been traced by the tobacco that was
thrown away by the boys, after lugging it until they were
tired of the extra burden. There was much suffering from
sore feet and fatigue ; but we had received a new impulse, to
which our spirits rose. At the outset we had swept so far to
the westward, that our anticipations had begun to look toward
Wilmington as our destination: this was dissipated as we
turned in the direction of Kinston when we neared that
point. The gossip of the column then took the course of an
advance of our base from Newbern to Kinston ; the gunboats,
as we supposed, being on the move with ourselves to open
the navigation of the Neuse. These theories had all disap-
peared with our onward march to the west and the burning
of the bridge at Kinston. Truly something '• was up," as the
veterans said at starting. We knew so little of the country
and of the situation, that there was ample room for imagi-
native exercise of our wits. Some would have it that we
were bound to Goldsborough, that is, to stay there : others
were not satisfied with any thing short of Raleigh.

We were reckoning without our host. On Saturday nisdit
before the fight at Kinston, after three days of unsuccessful
struggle around Fredericksburg, Burnside's army ceased their
efforts. On Tuesday night they retreated across the Rappa-
hannock; and Gen. Lee was free, if he had thought us worth
the pains, to put enough men into North Carolina to capture
the whole of our force. That this was not done is due, as I

TEE GREAT MARCFL — KTXSTOX.

suppose, to the extraordinary celerity of our movements, the
good judgment of Hen. Foster, and the success that attended
all our efforts. AVe were much less annoyed by guerillas than
we had been on the other side of Kinston. The country was
more elevated, and there were fewer houses ; but those that
we saw were larger. One of these plantations, where we
halted for the night, was large enough for a township. We
went into camp near its centre ; and our cavalry, who skir-
mished around its outer limits, appeared like pygmies, the
weeds were so high, and they were so distant. It had an
immense tree centrally located, with seats under it for sum-
mer recreation. These large properties, with their conspicu-
ous cotton-press with extended arms, their negro-quarters,
— log-houses almost under the eaves of the grand old-fash-
ioned mansion of the proprietors, — were something differ-
ent from any thing we had ever seen. Every thing about
them savored of aristocratic power. These men are charged
with having carried the State out of the Union against the
wishes of the upper counties. On one occasion we were
welcomed in a most enthusiastic manner by a considerable
body of colored people. I shall not attempt to delineate the
emotiveness of the African as we heard it at this time: we
laughed until the tears came in our eves.

We had a sad reminder of the nature of our journey in
an occasional grave by the roadside. Our ambulances gave
up their dead as the poor wounded men within them ceased
from suffering. The circumstances of the march did not
admit of sending back to Newbern after the first night out ;
so that the wounded of all the engagements were carried to
Goldsborough, some of the worst cases, however, remaining
at Kinston ; and from there, on the return march, they were
placed on vessels which came up the Neuse as far as it was
open : it was closed at a certain point by torpedoes. Chap-
lain Manning, writing from Camp Rogers, gives us a glimpse
of what was passing in these mournful appendages to our
column, in the following letter to " The Boston Journal,"'
sent soon after our return : —

G-i HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3I.Y.JI.

Camp Roceks, Jan. 6, 1863.
It was a singular vet to me a most affecting funeral. Fol-
lowing that plain coffin through the rain, every thing about us so
lonely and bleak, I could but think of the afternoon when its occu-
pant, Fuller Morton, was brought to us wounded at Spring Bank,
of the patience witli which he bore the pain of surgical operation,
and of that long, sad train of ambulances with us on our return
from Goldsborough, full of the suffering and dying, and in one of
which, brought back only to die, was this young and buoyant sol-
dier. And we thank thee, O Father, that the mournful and horrible
sights which we have been compelled to witness here are veiled
from the eyes of our wives and little ones.

We continued our march on Tuesday morning, the 16th,
until ten o'clock a.m., when our second engagement, the
battle of Whitehall, began.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOEOUGH. 65

CHAPTER IV.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGH.

THE Forty-third was very near the head of the column.
We were moving through the narrow forest-road, with
"route step," "arms at will," in the usual military "go-as-
you-please " manner of long marches, when we heard a few
rifle-cracks, followed almost instantly by the boom of one of
the brass Napoleons sending its terrific echoes up the road,
and through the forest.

We knew at once that the ball had opened again. An
involuntary emotional thrub vibrated through the column,
as, silently, without formal orders, we found our places as Ave
marched, and pressed forward.

It was but a few moments before we came out from the
forest, and began the descent into the valley of Whitehall.
Gen. Foster and his staff had halted at the edge of the for-
est while the column passed on. Looking clown the road
about an eighth of a mile, I noticed something in flames,
the bridge, as I suppose ; and in its vicinity a signal-man
was vigorously waving his flag, communicating with the
staff.

I also saw for an instant the left flank of a regiment mov-
ing on the double-quick at right angles to the road. This
was probably the Twenty-third Regiment. It was, I judge,
about a fourth of a mile across the valley, and its centre was
some thirty feet or more lower than the outside. The left
or southern side was quite clear of trees or undergrowth,
while on the right the reverse was the case. On this open
space of the left side the batteries of artillery were going
into position in plain sight, one after the other, as they came
upon the field. The Ninth New-Jersey, the Twenty-third

66 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

and the Seventeenth Massachusetts Infantry Regiments, had
already deployed as skirmishers among the trees and thickets,
at the bottom of the valley on the right of the road, and
were making a sharp and continuous roll of musketry, which
was soon followed by the deep and awful uproar of the artil-
lery, as gun after gun unlimbered, and opened its fire.

The Confederates were posted in a thick forest on the
north-western side of the valley. The Neuse River rolled
between us and them, but, as at Kinston, it was entirely out
of sight ; and but few of us knew of its existence at that
point. Our regiment passed on down the road, meeting, as
we went, an irregular but quite continuous procession of
wounded men coming up on foot from the line of skir-
mishers. All of these were struck somewhere upon the upper
part of the body : an arm was shattered, or, in most cases,
the head, neck, or shoulders had been hit by rifle-balls.
Streams of blood were trickling, in some instances, down
their faces, upon many of which a deathly pallor sat. Some
were so faint as to require the help of a comrade on each side ;
but most of them walked alone with trembling and uncertain
step. The expression which marked the countenances of all
was of deep seriousness. They were silent; but, as we ex-
changed glances, it seemed as though they pitied us as much
as we did them. We were marching down into the fire which
was fast swallowing up the line of skirmishers they had
deployed. They knew, better than we did, what our com-
pacted line of battle would meet in a few moments.

We kept steadily on, and soon became conscious of being
again under fire. There was no music about it, however.
We met this time not only the aim of the enemy, but the
direction of the road and the situation of our own batteries
was such, that we were really under a double fire, and, inas-
much as our own forces were firing shells at very short range,
we were in danger from their premature explosion. Fuzes
are cut at the moment of use, and it is quite a nice point to
decide with accuracy, in the excitement of action, the precise
time and place at which the shell shall burst. Down we
marched, however, until we had reached the bottom or centre

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSEOEOUGH. 67

of the valley, when we were halted, facing to the right,
towards the enemy. Of them, however, we saw nothing.
Before us was a comparatively open space, occupied partially
hy undergrowth, scattered trees, etc. ; then the Neuse, narrow
at this point, fringed with the tangled vines and shrubbery
of these regions, and entirely out, as I have said, of our
knowledge as well as our sight ; then, beyond that, a forest-
crowned hill, or what passed for such in North Carolina : and
on this rise of land, beneath its trees, and completely hidden,
from us at least, in the luxuriant low brushwood, was a busy
and defiant enemy. This we soon learned ; for, the moment
that we halted, we became conscious of being the subjects of
a continuous and tolerably well-directed infantry-fire, mainly,
as I judged, of smooth-bores. Our opponents could not have
been more than a few hundred feet from us, — not more than
half as far as from the square to the ferry. That we did not
instantly begin to fall in large numbers was due to the fact ■
that we were slightly overshot. The air just over our heads
seemed to be full of musket-balls. They struck the trees in
our vicinity repeatedly ; and in a few moments the word was
passed along the company line, that Edwin Benner was killed.
This the most of us believed to be true, till after the action,
when we were informed that a ball had glanced from a tree,
and passed between his arm and bod}' with sufficient force to
cut his clothes, and slightly wound his side. He was not
disposed to leave the company ; but his comrades, seeing the
torn clothing, insisted on conducting him to the field-hospital.
When his garments were removed, the ball dropped to the
ground, upon which he immediately returned to his place in
the ranks.

The battalion stood in line in this position somewhere from
five to fifteen minutes. There were at least fifteen hundred
men from the three skirmishing regiments just in front of
us; but not a soul was visible, and the noise of their fire was
drowned in the tremendous concussion of the artillery. No
order came for us to fire, or for any other action. The in-
ward prayer of every one of us, I have no doubt, if expressed,
would have been, " For God's sake give us something to do ! "

G8 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

The suspense of such moments is terrible, and each moment
seems an age. I doubt if the nerves of Marshal Ney himself
would not have wavered, if the men detailed to shoot him
had amused themselves by repeated volleys aimed just over
his head. It needed only a single word from our colonel to
have instantly changed our situation from extreme depres-
sion to the most vehemently pleasurable excitement of the
soldier's avocation, — that of returning the fire of the enemy.
But the word did not come, and it is well that it did not.
We were so nearly on the same level as our skirmishers, and
so close to them, that they would have been more likely to
have been hit than the rebels; and besides, in our standing
position, so near the enemy and in plain sight, we should
have drawn the fire of the rebel artillerists, who would have
quickly made a long list of "casualties" to tack on to our
record, while they were so concealed that we could not have
returned the compliment.

Finally, just at the moment when our patience was about
failing us, the order came " Right face ! " to the rear, on the
road by which we had come on to the field. We moved back
a little more than the length of the regiment, which brought
us partially under the cover of trees and bushes on the right
hand as we had entered the valley. Into this cover, by
orders, we passed, and lay upon our faces. The battery of
Napoleons (Morrison's) had filed to the extreme right of our
line, close to the river, and were making them -elves generally
useful in an obstreperous sort of a way. Their lire was
directed nearly at right angles with the batteries on our ex-
treme left, and they were evidently disposed to make the most
of their opportunities. Our position in the woods brought
us somewhat in their rear, and the copious smoke of their
discharges drifted over us ; so that our exposures here were
limited to the general and promiscuous firing of the enemy:
this, however, was sufficiently vigorous to keep us in quite
close contact with mother-earth.

We lay in this manner some time, perhaps a half-hour.
My position was close to the road up which the sad proces-
sion of the wounded and the dead was continually passing.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGH. 69

I have very distinct recollections of the deathly groans of
poor wounded men, lying upon the stretchers, borne along
the pathway only a foot or two above my head. It was not
very enlivening; but the moral forces which had been evoked
by my experiences at Kinston were in the ascendant, and I
recall a strange, weird-like kind of complacency in the awful
scenes which were happening around me. While lying here,
I saw Chaplain Manning go down the road to succor the
wounded, unarmed, on foot, and alone, with the visor of his
cap drawn down upon his face ; and a comrade tells me that
he noticed Chaplain A. L. Stone of the Forty-fifth, about the
same time, engaged as one of the bearers of a stretcher on
which a soldier lay.

The next thing that happened was an order from the
colonel to "fall in with fixed bayonets." This startled us;
for it looked like a charge either on our own part, or on that
of the rebels. Repeated by the captains and their subordi-
nates along the whole line, it penetrated our ears in spite of
the thunder of our artillery. We rose promptly to our feet,
took to the road, and instantly formed in line, facing to the
south. We then responded to the order, "Battalion! Right
face! Forward! March!" and proceeded again directly down
into the valley. On reaching a spot a little in advance of
where we had formerly stood, we found that the Massachu-
setts Seventeenth was just in front of us, and that they were
moving along the road on their hands and knees. The pre-
cise length of time that it took us, officers and men, to copy
their example, was so short that it was not appreciable.
Down we went, every mother's son of us, except Col. Whiton,
into a creeping posture. The cause was as follows : it was
not the fire of the enemy which appalled us, but that of our
own guns. They were arranged on the outer edge of a circle,
into the centre of which our advance had taken us. The
converging fire of thirty -six pieces of artillery was pouring
over our heads, apparently not more than ten or fifteen feet
above us. I say apparently : I might as well put it evidently,
for we were not altogether dependent on our ears. I thought
at the time, and I believe now, that the air was phosphores-

70 BISTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

cent with the light of the burning fuzes of the shells. A pale,
pearly lustre overshadowed us, although it was mid-day, with,
a bright sun overhead. I have not the slightest doubt but
that, if it had been in the night, we should have appeared
as though covered with a sheet of fire. The wind of the
batteries and the ammunition, for we were near enough to
feel the effects of both, was like a gale : to tell the truth, we
could hardly keep our feet.

We passed along the road a few minutes in this manner,
wondering what it could mean, when all at once we heard
from a distance in our rear the cry of " Halt ! " feebly at
first, obtruding itself, as it were, between momentary intervals
in the firing, but becoming more distinct as the officer who
uttered it approached at full speed on horseback, waving his
sword. As he drew nearer to the line of fire, he halted in
order to keep his head on his shoulders, and asked with great
earnestness the very question we had been putting to our-
selves: "Where do you think you are going?" In short,
we were " about faced " mstanter, taken back to our old
shelter, and again lay upon the ground. The whole pro-
ceeding had arisen from some misconception of orders, quite
likely unavoidable under the extreme difficulty of giving and
receiving them in such circumstances.

It so happened, that, when we fell in, Col. Holbrook was
abreast of the left flank or rear of the battalion, and the
mistake by which we had made the needless advance I have
spoken of was corrected in season for him to hold the three
rear companies on the ground where the line was formed.
Lieut.-Col. Whiton was at the head of the regiment. When
we retreated, our company lay, for the most part, a little
farther from the road than we had done at first. In a short
time two artillery caissons in one team came down toward
itsata high speed, halting suddenly at the point where Com-
pany H was lying. The drivers called out in stentorian tones
to us to get out of their way : we complied, and they turned
abruptly to the right, and passed over the ground upon which
we had been lying in order to reach the battery in our rear.

The valley between the spot where we were and the river

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGII. 71

was full of small trees, and the soil was soft. As soon as the
artillerists lost their descending momentum, the obstacles
that they met brought them to a standstill, and they began
to cry out lustily to our battalion for aid. They were but a
short distance from us; but their voices sounded, such was
the noise of the firing, as if at the bottom of a well or at the
end of a long tunnel. For a few moments, only a few of the
more adventurous spirits among us rose to their feet : but
a most vigorous appeal from our captain for volunteers soon
sent a large group of us to their assistance. They had man-
aged to interlock their wheels with trees of several inches in
diameter, so that they could neither advance nor retreat.
Our men got under the axle, and lifted on the wheels of the
rear caisson until all parties were convinced that the labor
was useless ; then the artillerists got out their axes, and
began to cut their way clear, while we returned to our places.

Shortly after this, as I have reason to believe, though I
did not know of it at the time, private Isaac Y. Smith of
Orleans, Mass., a member of Company E, was shot through
the body as he lay upon the ground, and instantly killed ;
those nearest to him only noticing a slight tremor or convul-
sion as he passed away. In the confused way in which we
were lying, he was surrounded by the men of our company.
A number of casualties happened along our line about this
time, which possibly led to another movement. We were
taken across the road over into the field or hillside on the
left, aud placed in front of a battery, about a hundred feet
or more in advance of it. The battery was diligently firing
twelve-pound rifled shell. Here we lay until the battle was
ended, — an hour at least, so far as my memory informs me.

It seems almost incredible, but I am certain of the fact,
that while in this situation I slept soundly for some time ;
how long I cannot tell, as all that I recall is the fact that I
became conscious of waking from a condition of absolute in-
sensibility to all earthly concerns. A man must be very tired
when he can lie on the hard ground and fall asleep, with the
horrid screech of a continuous passage of rifled shells just
over his head. But I did it. We were not sensible at the

72 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

time of any special attention from the rebels ; but the Forty-
fifth, lying in a similar position, just at our left, lost some of
their men, their color-bearer, Parkman, being among the
number. Somewhere from two to three hours had passed
since we entered the valley. During the noon-hour the firing
on our part ceased, and on the part of the rebels it had
dwindled to occasional discharges from sharpshooters. Our
regiment was withdrawn from the field to the rear, and, after
an hour's delay, was put in charge of the baggage-train for
the rest of the day. While we were waiting, we got our
dinners as well as we could: I think without any thing
warm. There was a mutual and joyful exchange of con-
gratulations among us, that we had escaped with so little
loss, though there were some marked exposures. I saw one
man lift his cartridge-box from his thigh, and show where a
ball had passed between it and his body, tearing the leather
into fragments, without cutting his clothes. Months after-
wards I made the acquaintance of a member of the Dedham
company, who told me that he carried a large fragment of
shell all the afternoon in his haversack, knowing nothing of
its presence there until he ate his supper. Something like a
dozen of such incidents as these occurred, involving injury
to blankets, clothes, and equipments, without bodily harm.
It is astonishing that we passed through such exposures with
such slight loss.

Chaplain Manning's letter, already quoted, makes the fol-
lowing interesting statements : —

" On Tuesday morning, soon after breaking camp, the roar
of cannon in the advance told us that a battle was at hand. We
were now near Whitehall, where the rebels made a desperate stand ;
and for several hours we knew not whether life or death, defeat or
victory, was to be our lot. The firing of our own batteries was
terrific ; and those of the enemy replied with much spirit, plough-
ing up the ground about us, ami cutting down now and then a
tree some few rods to our rear. Under this cross-fire our regiment
and some others lay during the battle. The wounded and dead
_ were constantly passing us borne on stretchers or in blankets, by
persons detailed for that purpose. The volleys of musketry in the

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGH. 73

edge of the woods to our front were nearly continuous, where we
could see the flitting forms of the rebels ; and the incessant dis-
charges of artillery made the heavens shake. Many of our men
were hit by bullets and fragments of shell, and several were slightly
hurt ; but only one was killed outright. A shell carried away the
arm, and tore away the vitals, of Isaac Y. Smith, a private from
Cape Cod in Company E, killing him instantly. The hospital was
in a hollow, sheltered b}' trees, near the entrance to the field of
battle. I visited it several times during the fight, where the scenes
of the previous Sunday were repeated, only I saw no rebels there.
But the same ghastly wounds, unmurmuring submission to painful
operations, the same image of death, — plurima mortis imago, —
was around me ; and though I could not account for the fact, and
it was contrary to all my impressions, the sufferers lay perfectly
still, hardly a groan or complaint escaping.

" After the battle, we had time to bring away the body of our
slain comrade, and lay him, wrapped in his soldier-garments, in a
neatly prepared grave. Caps were removed, and tears stood in
many eyes, while, surrounding his lowly resting-place, we joined
in a simple prayer, xlnd there we left him. . . . The color-bearer
of the Forty-iifth, Parkman, slain in the same battle, sleeps near
him, laid carefully down by his thoughtful comrades, ' his martial
cloak wrapped around him.' . . .

" My letter must clo-^e abruptly ; but it will accomplish its pur-
pose, if it strengthens the belief in the hearts of the people of
Massachusetts, that the men who have gone forth to uphold her
honor are worthy of the renown of our ancient Commonwealth ;
worthy of the sacred cause which calls them from their peaceful
homes to the wasting ills of the camp, fatigues of the march, and
horrors and perils of battle."

Our situation in this fight cannot be fully understood
without a statement of what took place on the skirmish line,
for which purpose I will quote a part of the official report of
the Twenty-third Massachusetts Regiment: —

"On the 16th, our brigade having the advance, we came upon
the enemy at Whitehall : they were strongly intrenched on the right
bank, the river being (mite narrow at this point. A gunboat,
partly built, at this place was destroyed. The Twenty-third was j

immediately ordered forward to support the Seventeenth Massa-

74 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.if.

cbusetts and the Ninth New-Jersey, who were in advance, and
had engaged the enemy. The line being formed, we moved for-
ward to the woods and up to the bank of the river, where the enemy
poured the lead and iron into us like rain. We opened fire when
they were within ten yards of us. Separated by the narrow stream,
which was so deep that it was impossible to charge across, it was
provoking to the boys to stand there'-and not be able to give them
the ' steel ; ' but a steady fire from our men made them seek shelter
behind the trees. The regiment remained under fire about two
hours, when it was ordered to the rear. We lost in the engage-
ment thirteen killed and fifty-four wounded ; total, sixty-seven.
We were obliged to leave some of our dead and wounded on the
field, on account of the rebel sharpshooters on the right bank of
the river."

"We learned, as we passed on, that there Lad been no halt
of the column. Six regiments besides our own, the Forty-
fourth and Fifty-first Massachusetts Regiments in addition
to those already named, were all that entered the valley: all
the rest of the forces, to their extreme surprise, had turned to
the left, and passing to the rear of our batteries, being some-
what sheltered from fire by the crest of the hill, had con-
tinued their march without cessation. On a part of the
ground which was too steep to admit of the passage of the
baggage-train, a road had been graded by our pioneers during
the fight by a deep cut on one of its sides for several hun-
dred feet. Along this road we passed, still hearing the fire
of the rebel sharpshooters. It semed so insignificant, how-
ever, after what we had just seen and heard, that we paid
but little attention to it until we became conscious, as a turn
in the road brought us nearer the other side of the river, that
we were ourselves the direct object of the fire. It was a
long shot, however. Occasionally a ball would whiz past or
overhead, and through the rail fence we could see the dirt
fly as they struck the ground. There was some consultation
among us, not even a corporal being in sight, in respect to
the feasibility of replying; but we could see nothing to aim
at, so we desisted, and soon passed beyond the reach of our
persistent friends across the river.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROCCH. 75

As a fitting close to this account I will relate an incident
■winch happened to me early in the afternoon. As I trudged
along by the side of the wagon to which I was detailed, I
noticed walking near me a little runty, oldish-appearing sol-
L . dier of the Ninth New-Jersey. He was one of those tough,

wiry men, made of steel, who seem to .unite the qualities of
v the lower orders of creation with a fair share of the distinc-
tively human traits. We had some conversation together,
and I remember that in the course of it he held out his gun,
which was smutty from firing, in front of him, in a kind
of informal, off-hand " Present arms," slapping the stock, as
he did so, in the usual manner of the manual, but with an
evident and peculiar affection, and remarking at the same
time as follows : —

"I know that I have killed three rebels with this to-day."
These words were uttered with an earnestness and intensity
of feeling which would have done credit to John Brown.
There was nothing, however, of malignity in them, nothing
any way ferocious. There was a patriotic fervor about the
man that made it apparent to me that it was not individual
hate which actuated him, but a whole-hearted devotion of
soul to his calling as a defender of the Union. The incident
did not make much of an impression on me at the time: I
felt no repugnance to him, and I have often thought of it as
proving what a wonderful power of adaptation to circum-
stances our race possesses.

The baggage-train was composed of four-horse, covered
wagons. We marched three abreast of each side of the
wagons all the afternoon, until camp was reached, when we
were excused, to our extreme satisfaction, for the wagons
were driven much of the time faster than we could travel,
faster even than the rapid pace we had been accustomed to.
If we could have clung to their rear end with one hand, it
would have aided us sufficiently to keep up ; but we found a
group of men attached to each one of them, — men who had
fallen to the rear, put their guns into the teams, and were
holding on for dear life. They all protested that they were
so exhausted that they could not yield their places for an

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

instant. The road at this point was very heavy. I found
that the teamsters were obliging us not only to " double
quick," which is fast travelling, but to "run," which is much
faster, to keep up with them. Sensible that I could endure
such rough usage as this but a short time, I gave my driver
fair warning that he must not depend on us for protection,
and resumed my usual pace. I soon fell, of course, to the
rear, and was not alone in doing so. This made me quite
anxious for a time, as I knew we must be near the rear of
the column.

After a while, however, the train having closed up the gap
in the column, which had been open, slowed down somewhat,
and we managed, by effort, to retain our places near the
wagons.

This experience was a brief one ; but it was very suggestive
to me. Those teamsters were practically a part of the army ;
their protection was essential to the safety of the whole force ;
we might as well have lost our artillery as to have lost them:
but virtually they were a discordant element among us.
Their demeanor and conduct was indifferent and selfish to
the last degree. No one appeared to be in authority, over
them, and they acted as though they would cast loose from
the wagons, get on to their horses and run, on the least
appearance of danger. We of the guard were really at the
mercy of those whom we were detailed to protect. There
was no concert of action between us and them, and the
desperate efforts we made to do our duty were exhaustive in
the extreme. If we had been suddenly attacked, I do not
see what we could have done to defend ourselves, much less
our convoy. It was impossible for the three mounted field-
officers of our regiment to exercise authority over so long
and thin a line ; and what was beyond the power of a man
on horseback was, of course, impossible to weary line-officers,
after a week of such marching as we had seen. The whole
arrangement struck me as being open to the gravest criticism.

The teamsters, however, were not so much to blame as the
system which deprives so large and important a body of men
of the advantage of honorable organization. When the first

WHITEHALL AXD GOLBSBOROUCn. 77

Napoleon planned his battalions of the train, he took a step
which should be copied in every army. Those drivers should
have been uniformed and armed, and they should also have
been numerous enough to defend themselves, with the assist-
L ance of a small body of cavalry, against any ordinary attack,

until infantry could be brought to their support. Such a ,
corps as this could ride on their own wagons, or at least take
turns with each other in doing so.

On Tuesday night we encamped as usual, without opposi-
tion. Resuming the march on Wednesday, we were told
early in the forenoon that we were approaching Golds-
borough. The pickets of the enemy gave warning to their
side of our presence by large fires sending thick black col-
umns of smoke high up into the air. Here the regiment was
detached from the main column, placed under the charge
of a staff-officer, Major Gourard, and sent several miles to
the right, to a place called Spring-Bank Bridge. We were
accompanied by a section (two guns) of artillery (Ransom's
Battery, Twenty- third New- York) and a company of caval-
ry (Third New- York). The rebels burned the bridge as we
approached it. The regiment halted on a small plantation
about a quarter of a mile from the river, Company H remain-
ing with them. Two companies, under Major Lane, were
sent to the river with the artillery, and afterwards re-enforeed
with two more. These companies skirmished with the enemy
across the river all day, losing one killed (Corporal Sparrow
of Company I) and one mortally wounded (Corporal Fuller
Morton of Company E). The body of Corporal Sparrow was
necessarily abandoned, as the enemy fired persistently at all
who made the effort to approach it.

Our company lay through the day in our camp in a condi-
tion of suspense and expectation. We heard an occasional
cannon-shot from up the river, at Goldsborough, whither the
main army had gone ; but no inttdligence came to us. Our
interest was heightened just at nightfall by rapid artillery-
firing at the front. This firing was sustained for about half
an hour, and then suddenly ceased. We, of course, in our
isolated situation, were intensely interested to learn its cause

78 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 2I.V.M.

and consequences. Our consumption of ammunition had
been very great, particularly at Whitehall. We felt that
the struggle, whatever it was, must have been forced upon
Gen. Foster, as we could not account in any other way for
the late hour at which it happened, and we knew that there
must have been urgent reasons for such a free use of powder
so far from our base of supply.

As the evening drew on, and no word came to us, it became
manifest that we must prepare to pass the night where we
were. Guards were stationed at short distances into the
forest, and the usual fires were built for warmth. The hon-
orable position intrusted to us impressed us deeply with a
sense of responsibility. We knew, that, if the rebels forded
the river, we must fight with the utmost determination in
order to protect the flank and rear of our forces at Golds-
borough.- Under these circumstances it is not to be wondered
at that we were thoughtful as the darkness closed in upon
us in the centre of the little plantation. Just as we were
retiring, Capt. Hanover came to me, and, after alluding to
the exposures of our position, he spoke with deep feeling of
the wonderful preservation of life in our regiment, and asked
me to lead the company in thanksgiving to the Almighty.
I consented at once, for I felt as he did, as I remembered
how we had skirted the edge of battle at Kinston without
harm, had plunged into its vortex at Whitehall, almost to
the line of skirmishers, with slight loss, and now, here at
Goldsborough, had so far escaped wholly as a company, and
partially as a regiment.

After the men were called together, the captain spoke
briefly, and led in singing a hymn. I then knelt upon my
knees at the camp-fire, and read the Hundred and Twelfth
Psalm, selected very hastily, which I will here quote by its
most appropriate verses.

1. Praise }-e the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the
Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness : he is
gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

6. Surely he shall not be moved forever : the righteous shall be
in everlasting remembrance.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOEOUGH. 79

7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings : his heart is fixed.

8. His heart is established ; he shall not be afraid until he see
his desire upon his enemies.

9. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor ; his righteous-
ness endureth forever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.

10. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved ; he shall gnash with
his teeth, and melt away : the desire of the wicked shall perish.

This was followed by a standing devotional exercise, of
which I can only dimly recall the emotions of gratitude for
the past, and supplication for the future ; our dear country,
our friends, our homes, ourselves, and our remarkable preser-
vation, presenting themselves as fit themes for naming with
thanksgiving and intercession in the Divine presence.

The members of other companies pressed around, and
joined quietly and reverently in the exercises. I have been
in thousands of religious meetings during my life ; but of
them all I think that was the most sincere and heartfelt.
Capt. Hanover wrote of it in a private letter, of which the
following paragraph found its way to "The Pioneer" of
Jan. 31, 1863: —

"After the battles of Kinston and Whitehall, while our regi-
ment, with a batten- and cavalry force, were away from the main
arm}-, to look after the rebels this side of Goldsborough, I felt that
I could not lay down to sleep, nor that my men ought to do so,
without an acknowledgment to God for our almost miraculous
preservation from death and wounds. I mentioned my feelings to

privates , , who heartily sympathized with me. 1 called

my company together, and told them in brief how I felt, and asked

their attention to Mr. , who had very kindly and promptly

responded to my invitation to read from the Psalms, and otfer a
prayer. I need not say with what attention the men listened to
him, nor how many eves were moistened, nor how much better we
all felt after the exercises were over."

We retired to rest, and lay until after midnight, when an
officer came from Gen. Foster with orders for our force to
fall in, and rejoin the main body of the army on its return to
Newbern. We were instructed by our officers to act quickly

80 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

and quietly. We did not wait for a second invitation, but
were soon in line, after throwing all our remaining rails on
the fires. We then proceeded out into the road, and were
halted at the point at which we had come upon the place.

At first we were at a loss to understand this. We had
learned from our companies, which, had been skirmishing on
the bank of the river, but had now returned, that the enemy
appeared to be gathering on the other side in force, and we
had reason to believe that matters would be lively in that
vicinity if we remained till daylight. But still we waited.
It was cold, and we were quite impatient, until we learned
that the officers of the guard had a very trying job on their
hands in calling- in the sentries, under somewhat peculiar
circumstances.

They had been obliged to post them, on the evening before,
in obscure pathways in the forest, and to give them orders to
fire upon any thing approaching from outside the camp. The
difficulty lay in finding all the guards in the darkness, with-
out going outside of them and drawing their fire. The cir-
cumstances did not allow of shouting, so that they were
obliged to move slowly and with great caution; but they
finally accomplished their object.

The sentries themselves, it should be said, were somewhat
mystified, and so were put upon their guard. They were not
so far into the forest but that some of them could see all that
took place in camp. They noticed the muster of the regiment,
and finally saw it moving off without them ; and some were
for a time sorely perplexed. But an hour's waiting brought
all things out right, and we moved on with an alert step; for
the mystery as to our destination, which had hitherto envel-
oped us as a cloud, had been removed. We had a new, and,
it must be confessed, a delightful sensation. We were to
return to Xewbern.

But there was hanging over two of our number, even at
this moment of joy, an experience, — that of losing their way,
— which they both declare will abide until their dying day.
And it was the two of all others whom we should have missed
the most, both in respect to their official position and the

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSBOROUGH. 81

manner in which those positions were filled by them. Just
after starting, Capt. Hanover spoke to Orderly Edmunds,
telling him that he felt miserably sick, and desired him to
wait a few moments with him. They fell out, together with
the captain's colored boy, a young lad named familiarly
-Jim." Their halt was but for a few moments, and, while
they waited, Major Lane came along, and advised them ear-
nestly to hurry up, as they were behind every thing else.
They endeavored to do so, although the captain was very
weak. As they passed along, having no apprehension at all,
all at once they were involved in anxious doubt, which was
not altogether dispelled until they reached the main column
on the evening of the next day, after fifteen hours of terrible
fatigue and apprehension.

In a few moments after they resumed their march, they
came to a divergent road, and in the darkness could not tell
which was the right one. One went up hill: the other turned
toward the right, and was more level. They were so unfor-
tunate as to take it ; and every step thereafter led them
towards Goldsborough, instead of Newbern. Our army had
already begun its return march when we heard the firing in
the early evening, and its front had passed far toward our
left, as we were heading southward, when our friends were
lost, hi quoting from a recent note of Capt. Hanover con-
cerning the affair, I will say, that, perhaps of all the members
of our company, they were the least prepared to wander
about all those weary hours. They had both suffered so
terribly from sore feet, that their condition in this respect was
known to all of us, and had excited the liveliest sympathy on
our part.

"But in time," lie says, after describing his attack of sick-
ness, " we started on after the boys, as we thought, although
the sandy road prevented our hearing them, and the darkness
our seeing them. Yes, we travelled miles and miles, only to
learn ultimately that all those weary miles and all those weary
hours were taking us directly from them, and towards the
enemy. When daylight came, we still continued our course,
until, upon consultation, we decided to take the back track,

82 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD BEGIMENT, M.VM.

which proved to be the right one for Newbern, as we learned,
after walking many more miles, from a sign-post, at the foot
of which we lay down to rest our weary limbs, and which
said, pointing the way we were going, ' Sixty miles to New-
bern.' Well, it was a satisfaction to have our route indorsed,
as we had been ' going it blind ' so long."

Mr. Edmunds says that at first they avoided houses and
men, dodging into the forest to hide when danger was appre-
hended. They made up their minds that they would not be
taken prisoners by civilians, nor by any one, except by a
number of armed opponents. But finally, as the day wore
on, they became desperate, and were obliged to ask their
way. To their surprise, they were met civilly at least, if not
cordially. The most minute directions were given them, and
they found roads and localities as described. Every thing
appeared quiet as they passed along : no one molested them,
or asked 'any questions.

As they travelled during the afternoon, they came across
an army cracker-box, the first definite information they had
that they were on our track, and finally struck the column
some distance in the rear of our regiment, which they
regained, much to their own and our satisfaction, about eight
o'clock on Thursday evening.

Singular as it may appear, we had not been specially
anxious in their behalf. We did not dream of their being
lost. They were supposed to be with the column, and their
absence from the company we ascribed to their footsore and
exhausted condition. It is very difficult, as I have hinted
before, for individuals to march faster than those in whose
immediate presence they find themselves. If it is persisted
in, it is necessary to crowd and jostle parties, who, .many of
them, are already jaded, and cross with fatigue. If it is light,
they see at once by your regimental number that you are
out of place, and in their surly mood they jump at the con-
clusion that you have no good reason for falling to the rear,
and give you a piece of their mind. This being the case, it
becomes quite difficult to get up to a regiment which has
passed on towards the front, as we man}' of us knew ; and
our friends had the same experience.

WHITEHALL AND GOLDSUOROUGH.

As the regiment, with our companions of the cavalry and
artillery, marched on, which we did for at least three hours
before reaching the main army, we were interested by the
first sight we had of what afterwards became quite a common
thing with us ; that is a forest-fire. It was the custom for
our cavalry to ride rapidly several miles in advance of the
infantry, and set fire to the trees on the sides of the road.
Sometimes this was done on side-roads for strategic purposes ;
but usually they only anticipated the presence of the column,
its use, in this case, being to deceive the enemy in respect to
the size and position of our forces. In certain conditions of
weather, etc., these fires spread rapidly, and burned with
great fury. The sight was very imposing from a .distance,
the sky for miles in our front being brilliantly illuminated ;
and as we came up, and entered upon the roads which had
been fired, the scenes we witnessed were impressive with the
gloomy grandeur of desolation. We were enveloped in smoke,
as when we lay before the flaming muzzles of our cannon
during the actions. Now and then a tall tree would come
crashing to the ground with a deafening noise ; and sometimes
we halted, and watched our chance to creep warily past some
monarch of the forest, fast tending to its fall.

What with fatigue, wakefulness, and unsuitable food, my
iinaginatiun was taken captive by the scenes of destruction
which I had for a week been witnessing, and, although per-
fectly level in my conversation on all ordinary themes, my
mind wandered as we marched on in the darkness of the early
morning, prolonged, as it was, by the smoke, somewhat into
the day. I fancied that I was in the streets of a great city
during a conflagration. The trees, many of which were on
fire to their tops, a hundred feet or more in height, answered
readily to the draught my disordered mind made upon them to
represent steeples and chimneys. The burning forest, having
been so far complaisant to my wavering whims, moulded
itself still further into roofless gables and open windows, with
long serpent-like tongues of fire flashing through them ; while
the bronzed faces of my comrades, peering into the strange
scene around us, answered for the crowd of spectators. The

84 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-TUIED REGIMENT, M.V.M.

ponderous engines of war which rolled and rumbled along
the road, with the artillerists upon their seats, filed, without
any disturbing incongruity, into the avenues of my involun-
tary mystical experiences as the organized force of firemen
and the imposing machines with which our great cities fight
their most terrible enemy.

As we marched away from the fire, and came out to the
clear sky and broad daylight, these sickly aDd gloomy fancies
ceased. My condition was such, mentally and physically,
that I had virtually seen a mirage revealing itself in the
forest-fire, although it was almost entirely subjective. The
imagination, for a time, got the better of the senses, and pre-
vented them from exercising their usual functions.

I fancy that the trees and waving foliage, the fleecy clouds
and rippling lakes, which sometimes float before the eyes of
weary and thirsty travellers in the desert, owe much of their
power to the disordered cravings of the mind to be relieved
of its repulsive surroundings.

There had been a short halt after we joined the column ;
and, while we waited, we ate our breakfast, after which, some
of our lads dispersed themselves among the other regiments
to learn what had happened during the day. The railroad
had been torn up, and a covered bridge, on which it crossed
the Neuse, had been burnt.

The artillery-firing which we had heard at sunset was in
consequence of a mo>t resolute and determined effort, on the
part of the enemy, to capture a part of our artillery which
remained upon the field while our troops were retiring. Ihey
were repulsed with great loss. Their advance was as heroic,
and as disastrous to them, as their grand charge at Gettys-
burg, and they made no further effort to annoy us; but we
completed our return to Newbern without opposition of any
sort. I copy below a full and most interesting account of
what happened at this time, from " Wearing the Blue," by
Major Denny of Worcester ; the book being a graphic history
of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment.

" The army commenced to retire, Lee's brigade being directed

•'■■ rf -

j ■ ":- ■■ f j ;.

% r ■

S • J- 1

'if ' fl ij

rfF^ -

&^i • it i

o
o

en
5d

5 , # jR:..f |r Ijff*: > .

^H - iji

*■ t '4

\\i ■ '■

WHITEHALL AXD GOLDSBOROUGH. 85

to cover the march in retreat ; and so we waited by the roadside
until late in the afternoon, — ; quite late ; for the earth was
' Bathed iu the rays of the great setting flame.'

And not until then was the main bod}- of troops in motion. The
Twenty-fifth was awaiting the ' Attention ! ' of Pickett; while on
the knoll in our immediate front Belger and Morrison with their
batteries, and Mix with his cavalry, awaited with us the orders to
move. We were feeling tired, and easy as to the future, for in a
few moments we would be turned towards home. In an instant,
on the knoll in our front, every living thing seemed to shake off
the inertia which had possessed them. Even the horses, that had
stood with their wearied heads drooping, curved their necks, and
pricked up their ears, as if they knew that something was coming,
as if they scented danger in the rustling branches of the trees.
Startled by the change, we had barely time to note it, before every
man of the batteries had sprung to their places. The cavalry,
vaulting into saddles, drew up in line ; and in the clear sunlight on
that crest we caught the gleam of their sabres as they drew them,
and came to a 'carry.' Men came running back to the fence
from every direction as the infantry straightened out into line of
battle. There might have been a dozen (cannon) shots, so rapid
they could not be counted ; and the smoke rolled back under gun
and caisson, and over men and horses, until they all stood in dense
clouds. The j'ells, momentarily smothered, broke out between the
rapid discharges of cannon, and were answered by the cheers of
our cavalry, as in that evening's sunset they swung their glittering
sabres over their heads, and defied the coming storm. This was a
new experience to the men of the -nine-months regiments at the
fence ; and Belger, feeling a little nervous, sent back to the lane
for one of the old regiments. The Twenty-fifth started off at
double-quick, rapidly passing down the short lane, across the brook,
into the field, and lay down in close column by division. We
were close up to Belger's battery, and flattened ourselves out as
well as we could in the sand ; for one cannot well be too small or
too thin on such occasions. Three rebel lines of battle came
charging across the railroad over the ditches, sweeping on through
the low land, and around the base of the little hill. They gained
the slope, and were corning directly for the batteries. They
wavered, for a moment cheeked, but on again with fearful persist-
ency. The colors in the first line fall, but are again gathered up.

86 HISTORY OF TEE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3LV.M.

Belger sights his right gun himself, and a great puff rolls out.
Men in the advancing line throw up their hands, while headless and
mangled men are rolled together. — a horrid snarl of mutilated
humanity. The firing was repeated, and groups of gray dis-
appeared : hut the gaps were filled, and they struggled on. The
brow of the little hill was all aglow with flame. The smoke-drifts
rolled in, but in a moment faded away,-revealing the long line nearer
than ever. ' Steady there ! ' ' Don't fire too fast ! ' ' Make
every shot tell ! ' shouted Belger. His orderly sergeant limped to
our ranks, smartly stung by a passing shot, but, after rubbing his
leg a moment, thought he was not much hurt, and went back.
' Give 'em grape double shotted ! ' rings out from the battery.
'All out!' the disheartening response. 'Give 'em shrapnel!'
— ' Not another round left, captain ! ' — ' Give 'em shell, then ! '
cried the chief; which we knew well was the last resort. We
strained our eyes into the cloud of smoke, expecting every moment
to see the enemy sweep over the guns. Farther in front, Belger
saw more than we could see. Wrought up to the highest pitch of
excitement at the thought that his guns were in danger, the impetu-
ous artilleryman spurred his steed out of those foggy folds, and,
pointing to his pieces, cried in the agony of the moment, as he
turned to the men of the Twenty-fifth, ' Bo}'s, don't let them have
those guns ! ' "We must have looked our answer ; for back he
went, and was again lost to sight. On our right front the battery
horses moaned in terror and in pain, tossing their heads as the
fierce rain of lead and iron tore through their flesh, and furrowed
the earth beneath their feet.

" From one of the enemy's field-pieces aimed at our colors, kept
steadily in sight by Sergeant James O'Neill, the shots spun through
our ranks with loud hums, or buried themselves with deadly thuds
in sand and living men. . . . The crisis was soon passed, however.
A few moments of surging to and fro around the batteries, and the
decimated and demoralized rebel brigade was hurled back into the
meadow, and over the railroad whence they had emerged.

" After this defeat of the rebel onslaught, our left flank was
seriously threatened ; but two guns from our position were trained
upon the flanking column, and to our left rear two thirty-twos
enfiladed the enemy just as the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts
wheeled into line to meet them. Lyman shouted, 'By file, com-
mence firing!' The solitarv cracks were soon mersied into ore

WHITEHALL AXD GOLDSBOROUGU. 87

irregular rattle ; and a roar of musketry smothered every other
sound.

" The enemy again fell back into the depth of the forest ; the fire
of the rebel batteries slackened ; our own batteries went to the
rear, and opened again, firing over our heads. Some of our regi-
ments, that had moved off the field before the rebel attack, had
faced about, and joined iu the defence ; but now they again
marched off the field. Our brigade followed quickly.

"Oh the weariness of that night's march! — who can tell it?
who can remember it, but with pain? Tired, wretched, and sore;
chafed and fretted by the sand which had filtered into our shoes ;
galled by -our cartridge-boxes, which had fairly worn a place for
themselves into our flesh, — we dragged our aching bodies over the
rough and uneven roads, neither knowing nor caring where we
went. Near midnight we turned into a cornfield, and sank down
to uninterrupted rest.

"E. T. WlTHERBY."

Some time previous to reaching Goldsborough, a strong
cavalry force had been detached, and sent to Mount Olive, —
a station on the Wilmington railroad, twenty miles to the
south. They had succeeded in destroying the track in that
vicinity, so as to insure our safety from any forces which
might otherwise have been brought from Wilmington, and
had returned without loss.

Our boys brought back an item which first fell upon my
ears about as follows: " What do you think? Those New-
York fellows over there are all talking about the Seven-
teenth and Barney Mann."

Inasmuch as our city had a strong representation among
the officers and men of the Seventeenth, there is no occasion
for any apology for a slight digression at this point, in order
that they may speak for themselves through the official report
of Col. Fellows to the adjutant-general of the State. This
report is written with an unobtrusive reticence as to the real
exposures and services of the regiment, so much so, that the
ordinary reader will hardly realize how spontaneous and well-
deserved the cheers were with which they were rewarded
for their gallant deeds by their associates of the march.
I make a few insertions between brackets.

SS HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M. F.J/.

"The main object of the expedition was to burn a railroad-
bridge, destroy the track, and cut off communication. We pushed
onward with skirmishers deployed, and gained the railroad, driving
the enemy before us. I was then ordered to approach the bridge
[it was necessary to march a mile on the track to do this], leaving
the skirmishers to watch the enemy ; but on doing this we were
opened upon by a heavy lire of artillery, [on the railroad] in front
of U9, and musketry from the woods on both sides. We continued
to advance, and arrived within ten feet of the bridge, using the
banks of the road as a temporary shelter. Morrison's battery
came up, and took position near our flag, on the right flank. I
pointed out to the captain the bridge and the depot beyond,
where a train had just arrived with re-en forcements for the enemy.
Giving his orders with coolness and judgment, he planted a shell
directly among them, and kept up a steady fire in that direction.
Meanwhile the shot and shell from the enemy's artillery came
thick and fast among us, yet not a man quailed ; and my orders
were obeyed with as much coolness as they are upon battalion-
drill. I sheltered the men in a hollow directly in the rear of the
artillery, and was then notified that two men from each of the two
regiments were to be sent to fire the bridge. I called for volun-
teers ; and Barney Mann, our late adjutant, offered to find them.
A short time after, I saw him wounded, and then learned that he
had gone himself, with another man, for the purpose. The two
from the Ninth New-Jersej- were also there ; and the bridge was
fired [it was a fine, covered structure, several hundred feet in
length]. I was then notified that the object of the expedition was
accomplished, and that Gen. Foster gave the credit of it to the
two regiments. When the batteries withdrew, I formed upon the
right of the Ninth New-Jersey, according to orders ; and the regi-
ment was received with three rousing cheers by the army all
around us. Our escape with such slight loss — one killed, and
eighteen wounded — seems little short of a miracle. Other regi-
ments have suffered more severely than this. I think a com-
mander, however, should base his reputation upon doing the most
work with little loss of men ; and a timely order to lie down, when
nothing else could be done, has saved many lives."

From an interesting account in " Soldiering in North
Carolina," by '-one of the Seventeenth," I take the following
extract in further statement of the facts : —

, WHITEHALL AXD GOLDSBOROUGH. 89

"Col. Fellows was continually going up and down the line,
encouraging his men, and showing them by his example a pattern
of the most fearless bravery."

Previous to the call for volunteers from the Seventeenth
to burn the bridge, Capt. Graham, an officer of Gen. Foster's
staff, a young man of the most conspicuous bravery, had
made an ineffectual attempt to the same end, but was re-
pulsed by the storm of bullets which fell around him.

"Lieut. Barnabas N. Mann then came forward, with a bundle
of prepared combustibles in his hands, and called for two volun-
teers to accompany him to the bridge to operate with another
party in an endeavor to fire the same. The men were instantly
forthcoming, of course; and the trio started on their dangerous
errand. We watched them with anxiety, and saw them gain the
bridge amid a perfect death-shower of bullets, one of which un-
fortunately hit our brave Lieut. Mann on the plate of his belt,
causing a severe contused wound. They returned with the
wounded officer, reporting that they did not succeed in their enter-
prise. But in this the}* were mistaken, as will be seen presentlv.
The enemy's fire began to slacken, and, just as another attempt
was about to be made to burn the bridge, smoke could be seen
issuing from it ; and soon the whole structure was wrapped in
flames."

Our return march was unmolested, as before stated. A
short halt took place below Kinston, as we supposed, to
place our wounded on vessels ; and late on sabbath morning,
the 21st, we reached our camp.

90 BISTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

KILLED.

WOUNDED

... 1

ts . . . 15

—

CHAPTER V.

REVIEW OF THE GOLDSBOROTJGH MARCH.

A ' PARTIAL review of the Goldsborough march is needed
J-Jl. to complete its record. Gen. Amory, our commanding-
officer, made the following report of the loss in his brigade : —

Seventeenth Massachusetts
Twenty-third Massachusetts

- Forty-third Massachusetts
Forty-fifth Massachusetts
Fifty-first Massachusetts

Of our regiment it should be further stated, that our
wounded comrade died, and one perished of exhaustion, —
C. W. Hutchins, an exemplary young man of Company K ;
making a total of four deaths, besides one missing, from our
own company, — Hiram Judkins, a non-resident, who fell in
some unexplained manner into the enemy's hands, and was
by them passed into the Union lines on the Potomac. We
did not see him again. He is recorded as having been dis-
charged for disability, March 8, 1863.

Gen. Foster's report of the killed, wounded, and missing
of the whole army, is as follows (it is quoted from Moore's
"Rebellion Record," vol. vi. p. 256), 90 killed, 478 wounded,
9 missing.

We must have marched at least a hundred and sixty miles.
We were favored with pleasant weather during the whole
time, and suffered but little for lack of drinking-water. I
have previously given Gen. Foster a brief introduction to
the reader, and, inasmuch as we had become quite familiarly
acquainted with him during the march, some further notice
seems appropriate. He was a man about forty-five, portly,

REVIEW OF THE GOLDSBOROZ'GII MARCH. 91

and physically robust, with the exception of a slight weak-
ness in one of his leers from a wound received in the Mexican
war. He was affable to the verge of familiarity, and pre-
possessing in appearance, uniting the highest qualities of the
civilian and the soldier. He was stationed at Boston for
several years soon after the war, and was always accessible
to his old comrades of all grades in- the Eighteenth Corps.
He died at Nashua, N.H., of consumption, Sept. 2, 1874. His
obituary in one of the Boston papers contained the follow-
ing paragraph : —

" In the death of Gen. Foster a noble and gallant heart is
stilled. He is remembered with especial regard, and something of
fondness, by the many Massachusetts troops who were under his
command in North Carolina. Many of them will pleasantly recall
to mind his commanding form and beaming face as he was wont to
ride along the weary marching column, and drop words of compli-
ment and cheer."

His conduct of the expedition impressed us deeply with a
sense of his strategic ability. It was severely criticised at
the time in one respect ; namely, the rapid manner in which
we were obliged to march. It was said that the column
should have been halted after crossing the streams (for such
they were, some of them), to save the men in the rear from
the exhaustion of double-quicking to close the gap in front
of them. But I apprehend that there would have been
danger of disastrous delay in following this course. The
safety and success of such a movement as ours was, lays, in
great part, in its rapidity of motion. Delays, in such circum-
stances, are, in the highest and most emphatic sense, not only
dangerous, but likely to be fatal. The renowned hero Stone-
wall Jackson owed much of his celebrity to the success with
which he planned and executed daring assaults of this kind.
Early in the war, in May, lSb2, he took a column across the
Alleghanies into West Virginia. By the merest piece of
good luck, his corning was ascertained before he had a chance
to "rush things" in lus usual style. He halted a short time,
and our forces, under Gen. Mihoy, went out instantly to

92 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3I.Y.M.

meet him, instead of waiting to be attacked ; and handled
him so roughly during an afternoon fight, that he quietly
took himself back again the next morning, although he had
already marched seven days. It was said by those who knew
him best, that allusions to his raid into West Virginia were
very distasteful to him. lie reported a loss of seventy-one
killed (of whom there were three colonels and two majors)
and three hundred and ninety wounded, among whom was
Gen. Edward Johnston.

The points which impressed us the most, as we afterwards
discussed them in our camp by the Trent, were the manner
in which the rebel earthworks were flanked at South-west
Creek ; the long detour to the west, by which our flanking
march was extended in such a manner as to deceive even
ourselves as to our destination ; then the vigorous blow at
Kinston, struck so quickly by the rapid turn of our force to
the north-east, that we met only a small number of the rebels ;
the temporary passage across the river of so large a portion
of our army, leaving the enemy for some hours in doubt
whether we were to stop there, or go still farther to the north
of the Neuse, repeating the previous march to Tarborough.
These movements were all of them masterpieces of military
wisdom, so far as we were capable of judging. To under-
stand them fully, it should be known that the enemy held
uninterrupted control of the railroad (Atlantic and North-
Carolina) running east and west, on the north bank of the
Neuse, between Goldsborough and Kinston ; and thev could
easily, by this means, have had a much larger number at
Kinston to oppose us, if our course could have been known
sooner, or even readily inferred. Then the courageous con-
fidence in his own resources, which enabled him to fight at
Whitehall without halting his whole column, was a continua-
tion of the same firmness and self-command which was again
exercised at Goldsborough, where the rebels were kept on
the move all day, on a line reaching from the point the
Forty-third occupied at Spring-Bank Bridge, to the fords,
several miles above the town, where they finally crossed to
attack him in the assault on the artillery. This he did by

EEYIEW OF THE GOLDSBOEOUGII MABCH. &3

such a disposition of his force as to leave the enemy for some
Lours in doubt -whether or not his attack on the railroad was a_
feint designed to cover his real purpose to capture the town.
We were also exposed to an attack from the rebels, who
could easily have come up from the south on the Wilming-
ton and Weldon Railroad ; but this liability was provided for
by the raid of the cavalry regiment to Mount Olive, where
they tore up the track, and effectually covered our left
flank.

His wife was a true helpmeet to such a man. She was iu
a high degree courageous, active, and philanthropic. She was
not with the column ; but we heard of her, during our term
of service, wherever it was possible for her to go in helpful
and consoling ministrations to the wounded or sick of our
number. It made no difference whether her duties were per-
formed in the wards of Stanley Hospital at Newbern, or
whether she was engaged in looking after some unnoticed or
otherwise neglected private on board a transport, her energy
and faithfulness were the same. We all heard of her benefi-
cent deeds, and held her in grateful estimation.

Always, while on the march, Gen. Foster was associated
with a tall and finely built man, whom we came to know as
our guide. He was in the dress of a citizen, and, I think,
entirely unarmed. As he rode by the general's side, his
appearance and bearing was such as to command the deep
interest of every thoughtful soldier. His demeanor was in
full accordance with a countenance as composed and dignified
as that of Washington. The rebels would have riddled him
with bullets, or hung him with short shrift to the nearest tree,
if he had fallen into their hands ; yet he had committed no
crime, except that of loving his whole country better than a
small part of it.

When we reached Newbern, on our return, we learned of
the disaster at Fredericksburg. The effect upon our minds
was depressing ; but it was only the first of a series of influ-
ences of the same character, which lasted during our whole
term of service, and compelled us, much against our will, to
the conclusion that the end to which we had looked hopefully

04 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

forward when we enlisted — a speedy conclusion of the war
— was not to be expected.

In reviewing the march and its results, I feel warranted
in bringing to light one of its incidents which later events
proved to have been of greater consequence than we sup-
posed at the time. The Third -New-York Cavalry had
approached "Whitehall on the evening before the battle ; and
a private of their number, by the name of Butler, had
plunged into the wintry stream, and swam across, in order to
burn a gunboat which was on the stocks. His effort was in-
effectual, as he was discovered, and driven back under a
shower of bullets. What he failed to accomplish with the
torch, we did on the next day with our cannon. This gunboat
was to have been an iron-clad. It seems almost ridiculous i
but that insignificant hamlet far up in the forest was really
a naval station. No more, certainly no less. If the craft
had been completed, the chances are, that we might have
had livelier times at Newbern than we actually experienced.
This impression derives its force from the fact that the rebels
succeeded in finishing a vessel of this description on the
Roanoke in the spring of 1864. They descended the river
with it, and sunk one of the gunboats which were at Plym-
outh at the time, driving the others away. This placed the
garrison there at the mercy of a large force, under Gen.
Hoke, who made a fierce assault, capturing the whole gar-
rison, composed of the Eighty-fifth New-York Regiment, the
Hundred and First, and Hundred and Third Regiments of
Pennsylvania Infantry of Gen. Wessel's brigade, the Six-
teenth Connecticut Infantry, Twenty -fourth New-York Bat-
tery, two companies of the Second Massachusetts Heavy
Artillery, and a company of the Twelfth New- York Cavalry.
The first three of these regiments were with us in the march.
They were taken to Andersonville, and many of them per-
ished miserably in that infernal den. The sharpness of the
sufferings of the Pennsylvania men was aggravated by the
fact, that, at the moment of their capture, they were waiting
transportation home, having re-enlisted, and been furloughed
for a visit to their friends. A full account of this most ter-

REVIEW OF THE GOLD SB0110V Gil MARCH. 95

rible disaster to the department of North Carolina may be
found in "John McElroy's Experience of a Private Soldier
at Andersonville," etc. (Bates Hall Library, 4220 a, 64), — a
book in which the revolting treatment of the Union prisoners
is delineated in a manner in which grace of style and force
are remarkably united.

To those who may ask for more definite statements than
have been given concerning "the pomp and circumstance of
glorious war," as observed by us, I am obliged to confess my
inability to meet their wishes, mainly for lack of the raw
material to work up into acceptable forms. The only music
that I heard during the whole march has been already alluded
to in the account of the occurrences at Kinston. All our
regular musicians were in the ambulance-corps. Not a note
did we hear from fife, bugle, or drum. Now and then Gen,
Foster was cheered by the veterans as he rode through the
column. As we came out of Kinston on Monday morning,
we met our friends of the Fifth Regiment with cheers ; the
City Guard of Charlestown being with them. They had held
the bridge during the night against the attempts of guerillas
to burn it. The appearance of the column in crossing the
streams was very picturesque, in spite of our sombre coats of
blue and the irregular manner in which we marched. The
glittering polish of our muskets flashing in the sunlight, as
we descended into the gullies, balanced ourselves upon the
bridges by the side of the road, or struggled in the water,
and then rose on the other side, was quite impressive to the
sight. The artillery, in particular, made a fine appearance in
this respect as the four magnificent horses (always of the
largest size) galloped at full speed across the water with their
gun and its caisson ; every thing upon which an artillerist
-could sit being crowded with men. For myself, I will say
that the most exultant emotion of patriotic feeling which I
experienced was at the moment of reaching the banks of
the Trent River, opposite our camp, on the sabbath morning
of our return. As we came out of the forest, Newbern and
the Rivers Trent and Neuse opened suddenly upon our sight,
and an unexpected pleasure was ours. Both rivers were full

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

of our gunboats, — light-draught steamers adapted to the navi-
gation of the shoal waters of the sounds of North Carolina.
They were anchored in line, astern of each other, at short
distances apart, all the way from the upper Trent bridge,
around the peninsula on which Newbern stands, up into the
Neuse on the north side of the town. Their colors were set,
and to me it was a most heart-cheering and really magnifi-
cent sight, reminding me, as it did, of the immensity of the
power of the government as manifested in the effectiveness
of the blockade of the whole Southern coast. This work
was almost Titanic in its character ; yet it was so thoroughly
done, that the rebels themselves, as well as their sympathizers
in England, were obliged to admit the fact. It is well known
that they were troubled to get surgical instruments, not for
lack of money, but because their ports were closed. "We
were ourselves urgently solicited on our march for common
salt by destitute families. It is almost needless to say that
these gunboats came in immediately on our departure to
assure the safety of the place during our absence.

I should feel that an omission of a marked character would
be chargeable to me, if I should fail to record an interesting
incident of our marches, as follows: they were often pro-
longed until as late as ten P.M.; and, during the hours of
darkness, our spirits rose readily into the realms of poetry
and song. Some one would start a patriotic ode or hymn:
it would be taken up by all who could sing, and a new and
elevated impulse imparted to our heavy footsteps. What-
ever else was sung, the martyr hero who pioneered our great
conflict was sure to be remembered. "The soul of John
Brown went marching on " with us, as with every armed
column which penetrated Secessia. We all sang it in our
hearts, if not with our voices. All shades of politics and
all nationalities, all personal opinions and peculiarities,
merged themselves in a deep and universal conviction that
the errand old man, who tame as near as mortal could to

making th

cross," was really

right, though technically wrong.

In making this reference to our singing, a fact which is so

REVIEW OF THE GOLDS BOROUGH MARCH. 97

ethereal in its nature that many writers would only use it
rhetorically, I do it with a full conviction that it was an
indication of the character and motives of the army of the
North, which was really finally decisive of the great contest.
The rebels had no songs which went so deep into the ideal
and religious nature of man as ours did : they were all char-
acterized by a sensuous localism. During the war the Rich-
mond correspondent of " The London Times " wrote, and,
what is more remarkable still, the Thunderer printed, the
following ingenuous admission : —

"No one who has been conversant with the Northern States
during the last two and a half years can have failed to notice with
astonishment the faith, stronger than death, which the Northerners
have exhibited in their manifest destiny, their religion, their Alpha
and Omega, their dream of dominion from sea to sea, and, to
quote Mr. Everett's own words, ' from the icy pole to the naming
belt of the equator.' The successes of the South have altogether
failed to inspire them with a tithe of that confidence in themselves
which neither defeat, nor hope deferred, nor illusions dispelled,
have e\er shaken out of the Northerners. Deny it who may, there
is something sublime in this shadowy earnestness and misty mag-
nificence of Northern faith and self-reliance."

I cannot resist the temptation to give here two poetic illus-
trations of the widely differing characteristics of the North
and the South. The first is the only spirit-stirring song that
I thought worth copying, out of several hundred Southern
war-songs which are to be found in a scrap-booh at the
Boston Public Library. The second will speak for itself in
continuing my statements.

STONEWALL JACKSON'S WAY.

FOUND ON A CONFEDERATE SERGEANT OF JACKSON'S BRIGADE, TAKXN
AT WINCHESTER, VA.

Come, stack arms, men ! Pile on the rails,

Stir up the camp-fire bright;
No matter if the canteen fails,

We'll make. a rousing night: ... ...

Here Shenandoah brawls along,

And burly Blue Ridge echoes strong,
To swell our brigade's rousing song

Of " Stonewall Jackson's way."

98 HISTORY OF THE FORTT-TUIBB REGIMENT, M.V.M.

We see him now, — the old slouched hat

Cocked o'er his eye askew,
The shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat,

So calm, so blunt, so true.
The " Blue Light Elder" his foe knows well :

Says he, " That's Banks; he don't like shell —
Lord,1 save his soul ! — we'll give him — well,"

That's " Stonewall Jackson's way."

Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off I

Old " Blue-Light's " going to pray:
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff.

Attention ! It's his way !
Appealing from his native sod

In forma pauperis to God,
Say, " Bare thine arm, stretch forth thy rod,

Amen ! " That's "Stonewall Jackson's way."

-
He's in the saddle now. Fall in I

Steady, the whole brigade:
Hill's at the ford, cut off : we'll win
| His way out, ball and blade !

"What matter if our shoes are worn !

What matter if our feet are torn !
Quickstep! we're with him ere the dawn:

That's " Stonewall Jackson's way."

The sun's bright lances rout the mists

Of morning ; and, by George !
Here's Longstreet struggling in the lists,

Hemmed in an ugly gorge.
Pope and his Yankees fierce before,

Bayonets and grape ! Hear Stonewall roar
" Charge, Steuart ! and pay off Ashby's score "

In " Stonewall Jackson's way."

Ah, maiden! wait and watch and yearn

For news of Jackson's band;
Ah, widow ! view with eyes that burn

That ring upon the hand;
Ah, wife ! sew on, pray on, hope on,

Thy life shall not be all forlorn :
The foe had better ne'er been born
Than. get in " Stonewall's way.".
MABTissBrF.a, Sept. 13, 1SC2.
1 Original manuscript, —

" Lord, save hie soul, we'll give him hell !
In ' Stonewu.ll Jackson's way.' "

REVIEW OF THE GOLDSBOBOUGII MARCH. 99

BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC.

MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE.

Mine eyes hare seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible, swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;

They have buiided him an altar in the evening dews and damps :

I have read his righteous sentence by the dim. and flaring lamps :

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
" As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal: "
Let the hero born of woman crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him ! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Chorcs — " Glory, glory, hallelujah! "

Two more allusions remain, and the Great March will
cease to occupy our attention.

Living as I have all my days in the vicinity of a large sea-
port, I have often had occasion to look with profound inter-
est upon the gatherings upon the decks of shipping, as the
religious exercises appropriate to the departure of missiona-
ries for foreign lands are held. I have long been of opinion
that the scenes there witnessed are prompted by the highest
motives which can actuate human beings, that they are in
fact a practical rebuke, of the most searching character, of by
far the larger portion of the lives of those of us who profess
to be actuated by the same motives as our friends who go
abroad, and make their residence in unhealthy climates and
among uncongenial people and associations.

100 HISTORY OF TEE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

I had supposed that such scenes were exceptional in their
nature, and that nothing like them was to be expected else-
where. But I was to live long enough to see an illustration,
not necessarily religious in its character, of sacrifice, which,
in my judgment, elevates every man who complies cheerfully
with its terms as far beyond the usual limits of our ordinary
life as the self-abnegation of the Christian missionary raises
him above the prevailing standard of discipleship. I refer
to the obligation which rests upon every colonel or com-
manding officer of a regiment to hazard his own life, that
those intrusted to his authority may be as far as possible
shielded from the terrible exposures of war ; this duty on his
part, of course, involving the corresponding obligation on the
men to be equally ready to risk or to sacrifice themselves, if
necessary, in defence of the nation.

The direct form that this obligation takes calls upon the
colonel to remain standing while under fire, after all the men,
even his associates the lieutenant-colonel and major, are com-
paratively sheltered by lying down, or in some other way. The
manner in which a sense of common danger and sacrifice in a
great cause develops itself on the field of action forms one of
the most interesting of my recollections. There is familiarity
between officers and men without disrespect: a marked and
impressive sociality rules the moments as they fly. No one
knows but what at any instant the brittle thread of life may
be shockingly sundered, and the possibility is sufficiently
probable to impress even the most superficial with a certain
unwonted elevation of demeanor. Col. Holbrook walked with
the utmost coolness up and down the road the whole length
of the regiment, or in front of the battery which we sup-
ported, during the whole of the action at Whitehall. He
must have been in plain sight, during most of the time, to the
enemy. He was in frequent communication with us, and we
with him. We had considered him cold and unsympathetic;
but these opinions were permanently reversed by his conduct.
Naturally somewhat undemonstrative in his nature, he rose
into the kindest interest in our welfare, expressed more in
manner than in words, but not lacking in the last respect.

REVIEW OF THE GOLDSBOROUGH MARCH. 101

It would be useless to attempt to recall the details of this
intercourse : it is sufficient to say that language which would
appear utterly commonplace in print was really impressive
in the highest degree, both in tone and manner, when uttered
in such circumstances as those by which we were surrounded.

It should be said, that, in a less degree, this same obligation
of self-sacrifice rests upon the officers of the line also. We
had the evidence at Whitehall that its terms would be honora-
bly and faithfully met. Lieutenants Colesworthy of our com-
pany, and Nickerson of Company E, were upon their feet at
once when private Smith was killed. It was thought at first
that his injury was only to the arm, and they proceeded to
obtain a tourniquet. But it proved that the missile had not
only cut off his arm, but had gone also through his body, and
buried itself in the ground, so that he had passed beyond
mortal aid.

The final allusion that I wish to make is to the freedmen,
as they were beginning to be called at that time : for the
Emancipation Proclamation was soon to bring its blessings,
and make its claims upon them.

One of the last sights that I saw, as I looked back over
my shoulder, when we entered the gloomy recesses of the
swamp at Kinston, was a line of black faces behind us, out
of the range of shot, making a good show for a battalion,
at least. They were officers' servants and camp-followers,
attached in various ways to the column. They were not at
that time supposed to possess sufficient courage to fight. But
time works changes ; and in war it often does it quite rapidly.
Four months afterward, Gen. Wild came into North Carolina,
and formed the First Brigade of United-States colored troops
among these same men. They were the pioneers of two hun-
dred thousand Africans who were enrolled before the end of
the war.

Very pitiable was the scene which I often witnessed as I
sat or reclined by myself during the night by the camp-fires.
These poor people were but slightly provided, and, for the
must part, not provided at all, with blankets, or even coats.
After they thought the men were all asleep, they would

102 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

swarm in around the fires, shivering with the cold, pinched
and cramped in their whole being, as the flies are in early
autumn. The soldiers lay with their feet as near the fire as
was allowable on account of the exposure of their blankets
to the heat. Perhaps there was eighteen inches (half a yard)
of space open. No white man could stop longer than a few
moments in this opening, so intense was the heat of the
blazing Southern pine ; but into these narrow limits many of
them would go without the least hesitation, and not only
stretch themselves out at full length on the ground, but lay
there quietly for hours. At first I did not interfere, thinking
that they would not be able to endure the heat for an}' length
of time ; but the men soon began to notice the cessation of
warmth at their feet, and in some cases drove them away.
Whenever I observed this, I prevented them from returning
to that particular spot, holding them where I was myself, at
the end of the rails in the vacant place of a few feet between
the fires.

I have never heard or seen any statement in respect to the
number of colored people who accompanied us on our return.
It must have been quite large, if there were as many scattered
along the route as there were that marched by the side of
our battalion. Those in the vicinity of Company H were
of a high character. Whole families were together. The
parents carried the young children in their arms or upon their
shoulders. I noticed that they were quite reserved. It was
not easy to draw them out in conversation. This was a gen-
eral peculiarity of the time, quite possibly owing to the rude
chaffing which they often experienced.

THE TRESTON MARCH. 103

CHAPTER VI.

THE TRENTON" MARCH.

FOR three days after returning, we did nothing but rest :
the ordinary duty of guarding the camp was all that
was required. Many of us could only walk with difficulty
for a week. Quite a number of the irrepressibles of the
regiment found themselves without clothing and guns ; and
they were obliged to wait for a new outfit at their own ex-
pense. This happened through their indiscretion in attempt-
ing to combine pleasure with duty. Two or three youngsters
would get together, and camp by themselves at a distance
from others : they would all fall asleep around a blazing fire
to be waked up suddenly by its spreading in the furze and
dry weeds around them. It was said that some barely
escaped with their lives, for the flames got such headway as
to burn the black-walnut stocks of their guns to cinders.
They were the subjects of the ridicule of their comrades, as
they flitted, ghostlike, about the camp in their underclothes,
while waiting for their new uniforms.

• Christmas Day was made a scene of festivity and fun, so
far as our means allowed. For a short time, our officers of
all grades were supposed to have resigned their positions,
which passed into the hands of the rank and file of the regi-
ment. Wooden swords and other strangely bombastic pro-
ceedings were the order of the hour. .Orderly Edmunds
gave his roll of the company into the hands of a worthy
comrade ordinarily known as "Billy," and supposed to be a
person of sufficient education and address for the place ; but
the first thing that he did was to insist on calling the names
of the company wrong end to, beginning at the bottom,
instead of at the top, of the list. The men were so unaccus-

104 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

tomed to this, or for some other reason, that they responded
very disrespectfully, or not at all, and finally went tumultu-
ously on to the parade-ground under the charge of another
worthy private acting as captain, whom I shall call " Hop."
His vigorous efforts to induce his command to ukeep the
cadence of the step," and other semi-military injunctions to
which we were accustomed, signally failed to enforce disci-
pline. The dress-parade under the command of a young
corporal of Company B, whom I may with propriety designate
as Col. Harum Scarum, was disorderly and ridiculous to a
high degree ; his utmost efforts to prevail upon the men to
"keep their hands down," and comply with the ordinary
obligations of the exercise in ether respects, being derided to
his face.

These comic proceedings finally came to an end by natural
limitations, and we returned to the settled order of the camp.
I deem it appropriate here to pass to the other extreme, and
give a view of the moral and religious condition and privi-
leges of the regiment, as delineated in an interesting letter
, from our chaplain to " The Boston Journal : " —

Camp Rogers, Dec. 30, 18fi2.
While sharing somewhat in the evils common to all regiments,
the Forty-third has given many cheering evidences of a moral and
religious soundness much exceeding the average in this depart-
ment. Its soldiers are, for the most part, of mature age : the plant
of self-respect has had time to gain a certain deep-rooted steadiness
within them, which renders them superior to the opinions of " vet-
erans," and which disinclines them to be imitators, or influenced
without good and patent reasons. Steps were taken at the outset
to provide a chapel tent (the gift of the Old South Church, at a cost
of seven hundred dollars). The influence for good this secured can-
not be overestimated. It gives us, wherever we pitch our camp,
one consecrated spot, one broad and white covering, — the holy and
beautiful tabernacle of our God, — lifting itself ever into the view
of the soldier when he goes out and comes in while parading and
drilling, and as he busies himself with the almost numberless
occupations of the camp. Into this place of sacred solemnities we
come on the sabbath morning at the very hour when our wives and

n—-

THE TRENTON MARCH. 105

mothers are worshipping God in more costly sanctuaries, and we
feel, that, while going through our service there, that we commune
with multitudes of the honored and beloved who are far away.

We have an excellent choir, and they sing the old standard
hymns and tunes, for the most part ; and many of the soldiers who
have had hymn-books furnished them help to swell the voice of
praise. I have seldom heard better ".congregational singing"
than within this " amiable " tabernacle of God : I certainly have
heard far poorer, of which parishes in Massachusetts were becom-
ingly proud. At the opening of our service we repeat the Lord's
Prayer audibly in concert, very man}- of the soldiers, I am happj" to
saj-, devoutly joining. The Scriptures are read (always one or
more of the Psalms) responsively ; the preacher beginning, and the
soldiers reading in concert the alternate verses. After service, the
soldiers linger for reading matter, which is always furnished upon
a table in the centre of the tent, of such quantity and quality as
the discreet generosity of friends at home has placed within our
reach.

In regard to our religious service on Sunday, we differ from
many regiments around us, adopting neither the compulsory nor
the purely optional plan. The chaplain cannot be too grateful for
the aid and co-operation which he has had from his fellow-officers
in managing this most delicate and difficult point. All, from the
colonel down, have, I believe, both by precept and example,
impressed it upon their commands that it is neither soldierly, nor
loyal to the spirit of our government, to neglect the culture of the
soul. This descending and surrounding influence, not amounting
to a necessity, but hardly leaving the will of the soldier to the
'•liberty of indifference," bears very wholesome fruits. Our
chapel is well filled ; and the preacher has the comfort of knowing
that he speaks to an assembly gathered from desire, and not by
sheer military authority.

Having in our regiment several officers and men of the Masonic
order, the chapel is assigned for their meetings two evenings each
week. They have covered the ground of the tent with a beautiful
white sand, which lights up most brilliantly in the evening, and is
as dry and soft to the tread as a tapestry carpet. They have also
provided a stove, and fitted up certain desks and benches, all
covered with a dark- red cam! nc, giving to the whole tent a very
homelike and inviting appearance., [Comfortable seats were after-
wards added.]

•«■*■

106 nisTonr of the forty-thikd regiment, m.v.m.

The evening meetings of a strictly religious character held
here are much the same as at home, — a prayer and conference
meeting on Sunday evening, and one on Thursday evening, at
both of which the chaplain presides. There is also a meeting for
practice in singing every Saturday night. Recently a literary
society has been organized, with most promising auspices, which
will probably occupy the chapel the two -remaining evenings of the
week. I have learned with great satisfaction, that beside these
more general meetings, — all tending directly or indirectly to the
moral elevation of the soldier, — company prayer-meetings are
held regularby and frequently in some of the streets ; and in some
of the tents, at the suggestion of men not professedly pious, there
is Scripture-reading and prayer by some pious comrade before
retiring. There was an unusual degree of interest and solemnity
in the meeting of last Sunday evening ; the chapel being nearly
full, and many eager to pray and speak, with a fervency and
humility not often witnessed under any circumstances.

Our company was second to none in the regiment in
respect to character and intelligence, and contributed its due
share to all the above developments. I will say, in addition,
that, during the early spring, considerable numbers of the
religious men of the regiment went to Newbern on the sab-
bath to teach in the colored schools. This was at the request
of the colonel and chaplain. The presence of the rebel col-
umn put a stop to this.

We found ourselves associated with two somewhat remark-
able religious characters, each one of them being sufficiently
peculiar to draw attention outside of the company, and so
connecting themselves with its history as to call for allusion.
One was that of a man in middle life, decorous and upright
in his relation to all the proprieties and moralities, fluent,
also, and outspoken in advocacy of religion, but who failed
entirely to command the respect of his comrades, for the fol-
lowing cause. Concealment is impossible in a camp. All
sides of a man's character come to light in its searching and
comprehensive trials. Men who are acting habitually on
the highest lines of natural sacrifice in the constant surren-
der of individual desires and preferences to the common good

THE TREXTOX MARCH. 107

(and all soldiers are in some sense called upon to do this)
are not inclined to regard with favor a religious man who
is always on the outlook for his own interests, making him-
self unpleasantly conspicuous by the constant assertion, at
all times and in all circumstances, of an offensively selfish
individualism.

The other case was far less objectionable morally, but even
more marked with eccentricity. We had among us one
whose countenance was deeply impressed with a strong reli-
gious cast, — one of those faces which carry demonstrative
evidence, to all shrewd observers, of the utmost sincerity.
Strange to say, this worthy man found himself under arrest
one day, — held to answer before the highest regimental au-
thority for no less an offence than this ; namely, knocking
down a sentry. The circumstances were as follows : —

The peculiar mental and spiritual condition of our worthy
associate was such, that the government issue of rations was
entirely inadequate to his sustenance. It was really a neces-
sity with him to obtain, in solitary devotion, a daily supply
of that " living bread " which is sent evermore from heaven
to replenish the wasting energies of the soul. He was in
the habit of going out of camp for this purpose; and being
too straightforward to use any artifice about it, and finding
himself opposed by one of the guard, he incontinently struck
out from the shoulder with such force as to knock the man
heels over head.

The colonel found he had a case before him somewhat out
of the usual line of culprits. The simplicity and earnestness
of the man were too evident to be rudely repressed. Our
friend escaped with a gentle admonition to "go and sin no
more ;" and the affair had a happy ending. By the exercise
of a little discretion he managed thereafter to find occasions
for private devotion ; the case being so- well understood
throughout the regiment, that even Catholic sentries came to
a common understanding, with the rest of us, in respect to
the Protestant "saint" in Company H, and took good care
not to see too much when he was in the neighborhood.

From my own letter of the date already quoted, and others

10S DISTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

following, I make the following selections, to indicate the
course of our experiences at this time : —

Camp Rogers, Jan. 1, 18G3.

. . . Rumor is quite rife as to the destination of our regiment.
If the unreliable dame is to be believed, we shall shortly be on the
wing. How this will be, I cannot, of course, tell ; but the indica-
tions are, that we shall not accompany the expedition which another
batch of reports from the same delusive source say is slowly fitting
out against Wilmington. All that I can do in these matters is to
give you the atmosphere, as I may say, of the camp at the
moment, or for a few days previous to, writing.

I cannot say too much in praise of the winter climate of North
Carolina. It is truly delightful. We have as yet seen nothing
colder (in the daytime) than we had in Readville, and not steady
cold at that. Just now it is a little sharp ; but we have had no ice
over a quarter of an inch thick. There have not been more than
three or four days when the sky has had that gloomy, leaden aspect
so peculiar to it in our Northern homes at this season of the year.
The clouds are warm and rosy in their character, and appearances
of rain are soon dispelled. We have had but two continuous rain-
storms since our arrival, though it is said that there will be a
change for the worse in this respect as the season advances. I
find it very difficult to realize your situation in Chelsea in respect
to weather, and also to believe that this is New-Year's Day.

Camp Rogers, Jan. 5, 18C3.
We have had two quite interesting occurrences in camp lately,
— one public, the other private, in its character. The first was the
appearance among us of Mr. Bond, who is associated with Mayor
Fay in kind efforts to relieve the necessities of the soldiers. He is
a merchant who has two sons in the Forty-fifth, and he was sent
out by Gov. Andrew immediately on hearing that we were on a
march. He was present at Chapel Tent service last Sunday a
week ago, and, although no orator, he made a very feeling address
to us, assuring us of the interest and influence of the State gov-
ernment and people in our behalf. What made it peculiarly pleas-
ant to me and to others of Company H who were present was
the fact that he was very complimentary and pointed in his remarks
concerning Chelsea and her citizen soldiers. It was the most
pleasing address of a public character that I have heard since I

THE TRENTON MAECII. 109

volunteered. At its close he invited us to come to him with any
request that we had, or any parcel to deliver to our friends. I had
the satisfaction of shaking hands with him.

I had almost forgotten to say that about a fortnight ago, while I
was busy sewing the string on to the flap of our tent, who should
walk into our street, but Charlie Farnum, the former carpenter of
the ferry, and Capt. Dale, who used to run the coaches. They are
now on the United-States steamer "Maple Leaf." I should not
have been more surprised if the " Trimountain " had thrust her bow
round the sergeant's tent into Company II's street. They left
Chelsea in September ; but their faces were as welcome to us as
if they had just come from home. You had better believe that I
made a pump-handle of Charlie's right arm for a spell, and there
were enough to serve the captain the same way.

... I can well imagine how desirous you are to hear from us ;
and as I read your letters last night, only five days from home, I
could not but rejoice in the facilities for rapid intercourse now
existing. As I wrote you in my last, there seems every indication
that Amory's Brigade, including, of course, ourselves, will remain
for the defence of Newbern. This, of course, is not certainly
known, and, even if it is the present intention of our general,
he might very suddenly alter his mind. It is now, however,
thought, probable, by those who desired and expected to go, that
we shall remain here. So far as I can ascertain, re-enforcements
have been pouring in upon us to such an extent that our general
can well aflord the necessary number to hold Newbern while he
makes the advance on Wilmington. [All this gossip about Wil-
mington was finally dissipated by the ultimate direction of the
force to Charleston, S.C.]

Mo>-dat, a.m., Jan. 12, 1863.

It is some time since the above was written ; but no mails have
left Newbern in the interim, as is supposed on account of the prepa-
rations for the great expedition, which it is desirable to conceal
as far as is possible. I am in complete ignorance as to when this
will go, though I shall keep it open until the last moment before
our departure, of which you will probably hear before you have
the reading of this letter. Last night, orders were read to cook
three days' rations, and to take two days' in addition, and to be
prepared to inarch within forty-eight hours. Our throe companies
have been called in, though one, Company I of Cambridge, was

110 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

sent out yesterday. So far as we are informed, this order only
extends to three regiments of our brigade, — the Forty-third, Forty-
fifth, and Fifty-first. We have the impression, from the shortness
of the time covered by our rations, from the fact that our knap-
sacks are not to leave our tents, and from some words that would
seem to have come from the officer who brought the order, that we
are the only infantry who are to go just, at this particular time ;
that we are not destined to "Wilmington, but that this is a recon-
naissance to ascertain, before the main army starts, whether the
enemy are in force in our vicinity.

Capt. Hanover's feet were still in such a condition that the
surgeon detained him in camp. Lieut. Bradbury had assumed
the direction of the pioneers of the regiment ; so that we went
under the command of Lieut. Colesworthy. Four pieces of
artillery were with us, and a battalion of cavalry.

The march proved, in fact, to be mainly for the purpose
of burning mills, which were used to supply the rebel army
with food, and in other incidental ways — such as stampeding
the slaves, etc. — to render the territory lying between us and
the Wilmington and Weldon road unserviceable to the ene-
my. The presence of our forces in the State actually accom-
plished this, as had already been evident to us ; for we had
found the large plantations overrun with weeds, the slaves
either having made their escape to the seacoast, or been
removed by their owners to the interior.

Our departure on the march was delayed by threatening
and rainy weather until the morning of the 17th, when we
started for Trenton, a small town on the river upon whose
bunks our camp was located : it was twenty-five miles distant
in a north westerly direction. We marched across Brice's
Creek, and on the south side of the Trent, by an entirely
different route from our former one. For the greater part of
the way the laud was low, and heavy with the recent rain.
We were not hurried, however, and the distance was so short,
that the trials of the Great March were not to any extent
repeated. We had dispensed with boots, and had substituted .
army shoes in their places. As we approached Trenton, we
were nearly to our ankles in sticky mud, and we strained the

THE TRENTON MARCH. Ill

cords of our legs severely, besides chafing the soles of our
feet. The ground was frozen for several hours during the
mornings; and the array shoes were so thin as to be but little
protection against this exposure. We also suffered from the
lack of the support which a boot gives to the instep and
ankle. If the march had been as long as the other, 1 do not
think we should have been any better off: but there is one
point in favor of the shoe which decides the opinion of sol-
diers almost unanimously ; namely, it can be taken off at
any moment, and replaced with but little trouble. This is not
true of the boot : it is next to impossible to adjust swollen
feet and wet boots to each other while burdened with the
equipments of the march. The refreshing easement which
comes from an occasional wringing of the wet stocking, and
cleansing of the muddy skin, is out of the question where
boots are worn.

Those of our number who were observant of natural
scenery had an exquisite pleasure of a mystical character,
which is thus graphically described by our chaplain in one
of his letters, the freedmen and women sharing also his
notice: —

" Near Trenton we passed a striking specimen of the Southern
swamp. The imagination of Dante could not picture a scene more
ghostly and dismal. The black noisome pool spreading away
through the leafless forest ; the trunks of the trees rising cone-
shaped out of the mir}' depths, like dumb and motionless sentinels
of lost spirits below ; the unearthly stillness ; the cold twilight ; the
long branches covered and festooned with the pendent and swaying
gray moss, — the effect of these sights on our unaccustomed minds
was dreary and startling in the extreme. I could understand the
remark of Buckle, ' that superstition loves the vicinity of the
gloomy and terrible in nature.' It would hardly have surprised me
had I seen Charon's boat pushing oil from the shore, beating back
crowds of shadows pressing in vain for a passage over the Styx-
like waters, heedless of the pleas of unburied Palinurus, gliding
with his spectral freight beneath the spectral trees, away into
recesses fit only for the habitations of spectres. For myself, I
must confess a strange fascination in this spot. I left it reluctantly,

112 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

and would walk miles to spend one lonely hour amid the weird
fancies it calls up.

'• . . . There followed in our train some hundreds of the doomed
children of Africa ; not the strong and robust of early manhood,
but the aged, the infirm, the women and their little ones, crowded
into ox-carts, riding donkeys, hobbling on foot, imperfecthy and
picturesquely apparelled, — a motley and laughable, yet, at the
same time, piteous and affecting company, glad that the 1st of
January, 1SG3, had at length shed its sacred beams of freedom
upon them ; listening, as though there were celestial enchantment
in the sound, to the trumpet-blast of the proclamation summoning
them forth from their long captivity to the awful probation of self-
government."

Shortly after passing through the swamp, an incident of an
interesting nature happened. It was so peculiar that it could
hardly have occurred to any marching column, except in a
civil war, between those of the same language and faith. It
was noticeable on all our routes that all travel except our
own was for the time suspended, or diverted, at the head of
the column, to other roads. We met no one but those who
were in arms to oppose us, except in the solitary instance
about to be related.

We were halted a few moments, and while standing in
loose order, at such ease as could be taken in that form, we
were surprised and gladdened by the passage through our
ranks of an intelligent and prepossessing lad of some nine or
ten years of age, coming from the opposite direction. lie
was childlike, yet self-possessed in his bearing. Too young
to have a share in the fierce passions of the conflict, " exceed-
ing peace had made him bold." He was so winning that we
all wanted to have something to say to him ; and he answered
us pleasantly, as he flitted by with a charming freedom of
manner which won our hearts.

In reply to inquiries as to his coming and destination, he
gave the singular return that " lie came from his aunt
Hannah's, and was going to Paradise." .The innocent little
fellow was not, however, expecting immediate translation.
His rather startling reply was due to the fact that there was

THE TREXTOX MARCH. 113

a village of that name in the vicinity, to which he was going.
Circumstances sometimes set words, like "apples of gold, in
pictures of silver:" their power of association in this instance
was such, that one at least, in that body of armed men, in-
stantly thought of Him who said of little children, that "their
angels do always behold the face of my Father." There were
averted faces as he passed on. I mistrust that some eyes
were moistened as this impressive reminiscence of home and
heaven vanished from our sight.

It was only a month since we met the enemy at Kinston
on just such a beautiful sabbath morning as this was : our
apprehensions were naturally raised to a high pitch. None
of us could tell what would happen before night at Trenton.
As we contrasted the sweet countenance of the child with
the infuriated faces that we had seen while passing through
the country during the previous march, we leaned to the
hopeful side, and we were not disappointed.

We were expecting to surprise certain irregular armed
forces which were supposed to make Trenton their head-
quarters. To this end, orders were passed along the ranks
to cease talking, and on no account to straggle or to fire our
pieces. This order was not heard by all of our number. A
worthy citizen of Chelsea, attached to another company, and
detailed from that to the pioneers, was not aware that it had
been promulgated. Tempted by the sight of a fine hog, he
fired, and killed it : this upset the whole programme. He
was put instantly under arrest, was sharply reprimanded, and
would have been punished, had it not been evident to all
that his fault was mainly one of inadvertence.

Shortly afterwards we came to an opening in the forest
occupied by a very neat little chapel, from which it was
apparent that we had frightened the worshippers. The win-
dows were open, and the hymn-books were lying in such a
manner as to indicate sudden flight.

We entered the town (on the ISth inst.) without violence,
encamped" as usual in a field, and remained until the next
morning. The birds that we were after had flown.

On the march out, when somewhere well on our way to

114 EISTOEY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

Trenton, our feet, all at once and for a few paces only,
struck, with a strange sensation, on a ledge of rock. We
were descending a gully at the time. The experience was
entirely unexpected by me, as we had seen no rocks in place
before, nor did we afterwards. The ledge in question was
the shelly limestone of which the public buildings in New-
bern are constructed: its color is a rich gray. It is, I pre-
sume, the same stone which is found in Florida, and used
there for the same purpose. Its appearance is very agreea-
ble. If it resists the action of frost, its use in the North
would be desirable. Leaving the town by a different road
from the one by which we had entered, we soon came to a
place where we were obliged to follow a narrow path on the
top of a mill-dam, all three of the regiments passing through
a small grist-mill built upon the dam. I recollect seeing, as
our company went through, a group of soldiers busily en-
gaged in lifting a new run of stones out of their places, with
the intention of plunging them into the water below. But
what attracted our attention the most was the fact that the
dam itself had been mined by the rebels, or, rather, cut across
at right angles with its course. An opening had been made,
of at least a foot in width, reaching far clown below the top
of the water in the pond: this opening was packed with
weeds and loose brushwood, so skilfully adjusted as just
barely to resist the pressure of the water, yet so arranged as
to give way, perhaps, with the pulling of a string, thus letting
the whole mill-puiid down into the road below. They had
played this trick upon our troops at Goldsborough, just as
we were leaving the field, and came near drowning some of
the short men on the left flank of companies ; but our officers
were too wide awake for them in this instance, and, by taking
us over on top of the dam, we avoided the risk of inarching
on the road.

There was some, but not much, plundering in Trenton by
the uncontrollables of the column. There seems to be an
itching among soldiers to possess some article of property
as a trophy. The following ludicrous connections associate
themselves with these transactions. Company A, which pre-

THE TRENTON MARCH. 115

ceded us in the regimental line, was ably commanded by one
of our own citizens. Capt. Henry J. Hallgreen. Its other
officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, were of a
high character. The same might be said of quite a number
of the privates, several of whom were our own townsmen.
The company, however, was burdened with some injurious
social influences; and of some of its members who were un-
avoidably under our observation as we marched, I am afraid
that there could not much be written approvingly; and one
of the number ''entertained" us for several miles after leaving
Trenton in the following manner. He had entered a doctor's
office, and appropriated a human skeleton: this he slung over
his shoulder, and took along with him for the distance I have
named. It is hardly necessary to say that the good-for-noth-
ing " spalpeen " was amply supplied with the peculiar style
of wit with which the Green Isle provides her children, and
he made fun enough to keep us all wide awake while it
lasted. The skeleton was headless, so that we lost the bland
expression so characteristic of the superior portion of the
human frame ; but I got an excellent object-lesson as I gazed
upon the massive spinal column which was marching along
a few feet in front of me. I had no previous idea how liber-
ally Nature has furnished us with "backbone." In spite of
the ghastliness of the sight, it was ridiculous in the extreme.
The way in which the leg-bones dangled after their bearer,
swinging, pendulum-like, against his shins, every step that
was taken, is still present to my memory. Was there ever
such a '• file-closer" before? Oh, happy family of Company
A ! if you did not have a good time, it was not for lack of the
disposition. When our lively friend got tired of his burden,
he set it on the top of a worm-fence, astride of the angle next
to the road, propping it in an erect position, and left it.

We had marched, on our passage out, through a village
called Pollocksville: when we reached it on our return, on
the. 19th, Company. II and the rest of- the regiment, except
two companies, F and G, halted, and hutted ourselves. The
two companies, under the cummand of Col. Whiton, made a
lengthy detour to the south, accompanied by the cavalry,

116 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

which had a successful skirmish with the enemy. The two
other regiments went also, leaving us to guard the train and
the roads. I shall here avail myself again of the pen of our
chaplain in describing incidents which I did not witness.

" On Tuesday a detachment of our men, together with certain
other troops, was sent about eight miles" in a southerly direction,
into the vicinity of White Oak Creek, and encamped soon after
mid-day, having marched at a moderate pace, and through frequent
showers, to a place called ' Young's Cross-Roads.' Our detach-
ment was in command, of Lieut. -Col. Whiton, an officer who has
a wonderful faculty of getting a great deal of work out of his men,
and yet doing it all in so good-natured a way that they rarely
think of complaining. We were a jolly company here ; our sur-
geon, as ever, full of accommodation, and the adjutant voting
' G. Young a brick' repeatedly; and insisting that his name,
whatever became of Whitehall and Goldsborough, ought, by all
means, to be inscribed in the xary biggest sort of gold letters on
our regimental banner. Well was it for us that we happened to
be in such capital humor, since we had abundant use for all our
mirthfulness before morning. Toward night the rain began to fall,
so that we found great difficulty in providing a little forage for our
unsheltered horses, and erecting a kind of nondescript covering
under which to huddle in our rubber blankets. Again and again
the rain showed a persistent determination to put out our camp-
fire ; and only by very vigilant and unremitting efforts to the con-
trary did we succeed in baffiing its intention. Toward midnight
the men became, for the most part, s drowned out,' and resorted in
dripping and shivering crowds to our solitary tire. Among them
were two or three cavalry soldiers worn out by long riding through
the mud and darkness, and chilled and drenched to the skin by the
rain-storm. From them we learned that they had been southward
near Onslow, on the 2sew River ; that they had fired on several
parties of rebels, lo^t two men. taken one or two prisoners, and
either burned, or found burned on their arrival, certain bridges
possessing a military importance. In the morning, having dried
our blankets and clothes as well as we could, and the pickets being
drawn in, we were allowed, after considerable waiting for orders,
to march back to Pollocksville. Here, without even halting, we
were joined by our comrades ; and so, returning by the way we
came, we pressed toward Camp Rogers."

THE IBEX TON MARCH. 117

We also bad a drenching rain at Pollocksville, and it was

my fortune to have my first experience on picket in the height
of the storm. It was one of the two darkest nights that I
ever saw. It was impossible to see the back of my hand
held at arm's-length: the palm, being lighter colored, was
barely visible. I was on a road about half a mile from camp,
with two associates, — men with whom I was entirely un-
acquainted, and both of them so illiterate, that it was difficult
to understand what they said.

Our instructions were as usual in respect to challenging,
and receiving the countersign, etc. ; but we were to fire in-
stantly at any party approaching through the forest on either
side of the road. I went upon duty first ; and while pacing
a short space abreast of our hut, constructed of rails laid
against a bank of earth, I was surprised by the sudden ap-
pearance of an intruder coming in upon me from a direction
which would have warranted me in firing at him. It proved
to be one of my comrades, however; but the pitchy darkness
and his thick tongue, together with his inexperience, and lack
of appreciation of his duties, made it quite difficult at first
to account for his conduct.

Our hut was situated in a pocket, or bay, at the side of the
road, made by the removal of earth for purposes of construc-
tion. In complying with a natural call my blundering associ-
ate had stepped out from it without saying a word to me, had
gone some distance to the front, entered the woods, and came
in upon me, when he returned, in the manner described. He
should have gone to the rear, with a word of caution as he
went.

On the morning of the 21st we started for our camp at
Newbern in season to reach it during the afternoon. We
found the country, for several miles, covered with water from
six inches to three feet in depth. Most of it was up to our
knees. We were homeward bound, however, and cheerful.
The Forty-third had the advance ; and I think I never saw
such rapid marching. It seemed almost as if we flew. The
Forty-fifth was next to us, and they did their best to keep up,
ave out. We got into our camp nearly an hour

118 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

ahead of them. It was really amusing, when they came along,
to see with what sublime indifference they went past. Some
of us were out on the parade-ground, trying to get a recogni-
tion from our personal friends in their ranks ; but it was no
use. No one would have dreamed that they knew any thing
about any such regiment as ours.

This march had an excellent effect upon us. "We saw that
we were trusted. The three regiments were all nine-months
men, and, besides this, our minds were so affected by its com-
paratively peaceful character, that a natural and healthful
re-action from the profound experiences of the previous march
took place. We had met with such a stern resistance on that
occasion, that, wdien ordered out again, we naturally expected,
with so small a force, to meet with vigorous opposition. The
result was so different from our apprehensions, that we easily,
thereafter, adjusted ourselves to the exigencies of our soldier-
life, and met danger with a certain indifference which dis-
tinguishes veterans from new troops.

It afterwards became a camp witticism, among us of the
Forty -third, to ask each other, with a tone and accent well
understood among ourselves, "Were you on the Trenton
march? were you at Pollocksville ? " the point of the joke ly-
ing in the contrast between our actual experience and what
we expected ; the humorous assumption being also under-
stood, that any comrade who was able to answer affirmatively
did thereby fully establish his reputation as a soldier.

THE CAMP AT XEWBESX. 119

CHAPTER VII,

THE CAMP AT NEWBEEN,

THE time that intervened between our return from Tren-
ton and the active operations which began about the
middle of March was the most quiet period of our service,-
and it seems the most appropriate interval to devote to such
descriptive incidents and circumstances as may best set forth
the experiences of the citizen soldier in the camp. Camp
Rogers was a square of not less than eight hundred feet on
each of its sides, — about as large as the enclosure between
Broadway and Walnut, Fourth and Fifth Streets. Its sym-
metry, however, was slightly broken at the angle where it
was bounded by the Trent. On its southerly border it rested
on the road by which we marched to Trenton. At the central
point of this side, three guard-tents were located, and this
was the recognized official entrance to the camp. Directly
opposite these tents, across the parade-ground which occupied
the whole front of the camp, and was at least one hundred
and fifty feet wide, was the company street of H, the central
street of nine 'others. This street was nearly the same
length as the depth of the parade-ground ; that is, about one
hundred and fifty feet. Our company was sheltered in six
Sibley tents of a conical shape, sixteen feet in diameter at
their bases, and about the same height, an opening of a foot
being left at the top. with a cover over it for smoke and
ventilation. These tents were of thick duck, and, after we
became accustomed to their care, were really much more
comfortable dwellings than would be supposed.

They had one" singular exposure, however : in-some of our
heaviest rains they would suddenly begin to leak for a foot
or two upwards from their base. The rain dropped upon our

120 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3I.Y.JI.

faces as we lay asleep, and obliged us to have recourse to a
peculiar expedient to relieve ourselves. When we found
that we had got to do it, and not till then, we would fumble
round in the dark for the thinnest newspaper we could find
(and you know, Mr. Editor, that some newspapers are very
"thin"), put our rubber blanket over us, and then rush out
in the rain, and paste the paper on the spot just over where
our heads would come. Surprising as it may appear, this
was a sure remedy. The paper would, adhere to the cloth as
closely as if placed there by a " bill-sticker ; " but we had to
work lively to do it. Sixteen of us were allotted to each
tent: the tallest men, having the same number in each tent as
the shortest, were, of course, much more straitened for room.
Many of the regiments stockaded the tents; that is, piles or
stakes were driven into the ground in a circle of the same
diameter as the tents, and the canvas was stretched on top
of them about four feet above the ground. These stakes were
so open, however, to the cold night air, that it was necessary
to bank the earth against them, and this precaution brought
with it an exposure which was so marked, that our surgeon
set his face against their use. It had been found that the
earth embankment was of the nature of a cellar : it predis-
posed the tent to dampness, besides sheltering rats. We
thought the doctor was hard on us at first ; but we afterward
learned to respect his authority in all sanitary measures.

Passing through the company street, we come at its head
to the cook-house: this was abut composed of boards torn
from a neighboring house. And at this point Ave reach the
street occupied on its farther or northern side by the Avail
tents of the line-officers. This street ran parallel with the
road to Trenton, from east to west, the whole width of the
camp. Another street was beyond it, also parallel, occupied
by the field-officers and .by the chapel tent, the regimental
flagstaff being conspicuous. In the rear of the field-officers'
tents were the stables for their horses, leaving an unoccupied
space beyond.

On the sides of the camp, as we enter at the guard-tents,
we notice the regimental "sinks," or privies, shielded from

THE CAMP AT NEYTBERN. 121

view by a screen of shrubbery, and on the westerly side two
tents and a log building, which are devoted to the pioneers;
while the sutler's tent, of good size, and a small one by the
armorer of the regiment, Mr. C. R. Fisher of Company H,
and the private accommodations of the officers, just to the
right of the passage to the river, fdl out the outline. The
camp was located on a slight rise of ground, making drainage
easy, and when decorated with trees, which were placed at
suitable intervals in the streets, it was really beautiful. We
took pains to replace these trees — mostly pine and holly —
as they lost their verdure, and, as the weather became hot.
extended their shade by arbors between the tents. During
the winter, our water-supply from a spring just outside of
our lines was sufficient : as the season changed, wells were
dug at the head of the streets, which answered our purposes,
with some help from a spring on the river-side, which was
copious enough to force its way up from the bottom through
the water of the river.

Extracts from two letters written at this time will intro-
duce the reader to some of the every-day details of our situa-
tion.

Camp Kocf.es. Jan. 30, 1803.

We are having more of a season of rest, both mental and
bod i by, than has been the case at any one time since our arrival
here, and it is peculiarly refreshing to me, as the state of excite-
ment in which we lived while our destination was uncertain was
very unpleasant. The chief business of many seemed to be to
hear and tell some new thing : in fact, some made themselves
appear offensively foolish ; hut the wind is now all out of their
sails, and we have peace.

Our colonel told the officers, as they gathered around him at
' dress-parade yesterday, that Stonewall Jackson had sent word
that he was coming to dine with us to-day. This, on the face.
looked a little alarming: but as our officers told it to us in our
streets, after coming in, we concluded that it was intended as a
joke on us for the liberal supply of boxes which our friends had
recently sent (some 275 in the regiment) . . . .

I am writing this page in a high wind and cloudy sky, the
ground is white with snow from a squall, — the first we have seen
since we left Boston Harbor.

122 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.lf.

Feb. 11, 1863.

You can hardly form an idea of what delightful weather we
have had all winter. My mittens have not been on my hands
more than three or four times, and we are fast falling into the
practice of eating our meals out of doors : in fact, there have been
a number of days lately when it was too hot to eat outside with
safety at noon. . . . We are now raising 'a tall flagstaff, which has
employed our pioneers at intervals for some six weeks. It is eighty
feet in height, and it is surmounted with a double-headed tiger
carved in very fine style by one of the members of our company,
Samuel TV. Johnson of TVeston, Mass. In addition to this, we
commenced to-day extensive grading operations in our company
streets, which it is proposed, if we remain here, to extend to the
whole camp, even the parade-ground. . . .

We are engaged in making ourselves as safe, as comfortable,
and as ornamental as is possible. The safety refers to the build-
ing of earthworks, of which, in addition to three small ones which
our brigade has made across the Trent, we are to construct a large
one close to our camp ; the comfortable, to hosts of little things
which New-Englanders will gather around themselves ; and the
ornamental, to the pines and hollies, with their beautiful red ber-
ries, with which our streets are lined, making it look as leafy as
though we had been here ten years at least.

In describing our company street and the life we lived in
it, our oven, located near the cook-house, in line with the
tents, deserves notice, if for nothing more than its connection
with our weekly dish of baked beans, which we had as regu-
lar as if we had been at home. It was made of bricks set in
clay.

Our rations us a whole were excellent in quality, and
ample in quantity. I have only one qualification to make,
and that is, that much of our bread (hard tack) was made of
doctored flour. It was not baked in the department, so that
I feel free to expose its deficiencies. Every soldier remem-
bers the difference between a flesh-colored cake, aerated
clear through by yeast, flaky, and as brittle as was consist-
ent with' its preservation and transportation', and the kind
mixed with them, — white in color, hard as a rock, not even
porous, impervious to moisture, resisting all our efforts to

THE CAMP AT XEWBERX. 12S

soak them in our coffee. Verily, I believe that the issue of
these ''stones" to us soldiers, the wards of the nation, when
we asked for '-bread," was as fatal to thousands of brave
men as the shot of the enemy. Constipation is the ever-
present sanitary foe of the soldier, and the road to it was
paved with "doctored" hard tack. -Every dollar that was
accumulated in this way is costing the nation ten in pensions
for "disability."

To the praise of the government, it. should be said that it
made laudable efforts to get ahead of the contractors in this
matter. It had an extensive bakery at Newborn; and half
our rations of bread were issued in large, nice loaves, freshly
baked. A half of one of the loaves was given to each one
of us every week. Fresh beef, just killed at Newbern, was
issued in the same liberal manner. It was really an interest-
ing and even laughable sight to see the great plates of it, —
three days' rations, — all cooked, which were passed to us.
It only required ordinary economy to make it last the full
time. We had boxes sunk in the ground on the outer circle
of the tents, near our heads as we lay. These were our
"cellars;" and our eatables were deposited in them.

Not the least among the officials of our company was our
worthy cook, William B. Bryant. To our extreme regret he
passed away in 1866. We shall all remember him as long as
we recall any of the circumstances of our unwonted life in
North Carolina. Of course, every body grumbles at the cook,
— that is, nearly all, — and the man that can live it all down,
and fairly stop the mouths of the querulous, is no common
character. He must have the endurance of the ox in inces-
sant labor, and the hide of the rhinoceros to ward off the
flying shafts of the petulant and the particular. Our friend
combined in an odd yet happy manner some excellent and
kindly traits of character, with sufficient force to command
respect. - When his patience was exhausted by complaints,
he could make it as squally as he pleased all around the
cook-house, and, after the atmosphere had cleared, would call
the grumblers back in a deprecating tone, and give them a
little more or a little less fat, etc., with as acceptable grace

124 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

as if lie had only his youthful brood at home to care for,
instead of a hundred men.

Next in order to the culinary department of the regiment
comes the sutler's tent. Mr. James Q. Gilmore of our city
supplied our needs in this respect in a satisfactory manner.
I can readily imagine that a low-bred and avaricious sutler
can be a most efficient instrument of evil in a camp ; but I
know nothing about it, as the personal influence of the friend
who filled this post in our battalion was the reverse of all
this.

A sutler's tent is a country store, with all that relates abso-
lutely and entirely to the feminine element of society left
out. Mr. Gilmore was well supported by his help, most of
whom were disabled soldiers of the Potomac army. We were
uniformly as well treated as if there had been a rival "store"
over on the other corner.

I will here supplement the statement of our chaplain con-
cerning our moral and religious status, with some further
details. I think that we escaped almost entirely the lower-
ing influences of gambling. Nothing of this was public, at
least. Those who were free from this demoralizing vice when
they joined the regiment must have remained so. I do not
know how deeply our armies were infected with this insidious
moral malaria; but I heard and saw more of it in North Caro-
lina than I like to record. I was startled and confounded, on
one occasion, to see a regiment at an outpost, under circum-
stances where they might at any moment have been called
into action, engaged in play. The paymaster was in camp;
and, just as quick as the officers and men got their money,
they extemporized gaming-tables in the broad light of day,
on stumps of trees, drums, knapsacks, etc., and the whole
regiment went into the fearfully demoralizing excitement,
piles of greenbacks being everywhere visible. The expos-
ures and temptations of the officers and men of the regular
army in isolated posts must be terrible. The practice should
be as sternly prohibited among them as duelling is.

Another exposure of the soldier we did not so fully escape.
In the extensive details from the brigade which were made

THE CAMP AT WEWBEBN. 125

to build earthwork-. I am sorry to be obliged to say that the
government took the place of the tempter by its issue of a
whiskey ration. There was not the slightest reason for it.
The labor was not hard; the day's work was short; and we
were not driven. It was entirely optional with us whether
to work or not. The principal reason for doing it, besides
getting the drink, was to escape the ennui of drills: these,
however, were seldom over five hours and a half per day. In
my judgment, there is not sufficient reason for the issue of
liquor by the government, except at the suggestion of the
surgeon, and then, only under extraordinary circumstances,
when warm coffee or tea cannot be supplied.

These remarks are not to be understood as implying the
prevalence of drunkenness among us : on the contrary, we were
as free from it as from gambling. Our surgeon, Dr. Webber,
was entirely opposed to the liquor ration. It was not issued
in the regiment. We had none on the severest marches we
made. Our camp was an outpost with very restricted rehi-
tions to the rest of the world. Visits to Xewbern were few,
and far between. Martial law was supreme in the depart-
ment, and it is practically prohibitory of the sale of liquor.

The great plain upon which we were located was the
Champ de Mars of Newbern. Our drills at first took the
impressive form of the sham battle, during which exercises
the brigade went through the evolutions and firing appropri-
ate to warfare in the open field. After the first month or
two, however, firing was omitted, the drill of the brigade
became merely mechanical, and was tedious in the extreme ;
the only movement which I recall as relieving our ennui
being that which for the moment transforms the three to five
thousand men of the brigade into a disorderly mob ; for this
is, apparently, the effect of a certain order. In an instant of
time every man starts on the double-quick, so far as the un-
practised observer can see, without any reference to any one
but himself. The scene is a surprising one. The men seem
struck with a panic, and to be doing their best to get off from
the field in a vehement access of terror; but really every
raan knows his duty, and place, and is held to it by a fine

126 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

social instinct moulded into military forms. The movement
takes several minutes ; and at its completion every soldier
locates himself without the slightest hesitation or confusion,
and each regiment forms part of a compacted line of battle
entirely different from the original one. The scene, as the
men moved over the undulations of the plain, was beautiful
in the extreme.

These evolutions took their highest form in a grand re-
view (on Feb. 25), for which I am indebted, for a full and
interesting account, to the anonymous author of " The Cam-
paign of the Forty-fifth."

" It was a beautiful sight to watch the long line of troops which
filed over the bridge, their bayonets flashing in" the sunlight, as
regiment after regiment came up, and took its place in line. The
line was formed in brigades, four regiments deep, in the order of
the brigades, our brigade holding the right, the artillery and cavalry
occupying the extreme left.

"The thunder of the artillery announced the arrival of our
gallant commander, Major-Gen. Foster ; and soon he appeared at
our front, finely mounted, and attended by his full staff. Drums
are ruffled, and arms presented, while the band plays ' Hail to the
Chief,' as he dashes along in his inspection of each regiment, the
music continuing while he is passing through the brigade, then
the next band takes up the strain.

"After a long rest, and a lunch by all who had been prudent
enough to bring a supply of hard tack in their pockets, our turn
came for an active part in the proceedings of the day. Gen. Foster
had taken his station on a slight eminence, and sat facing the
centre of the line, which, brigade deep, extended ibr full a mile.
Surrounded by his staff, he was the object of attraction of a crowd
of spectators who thronged about him, — from Mrs. Foster and her
brilliant staff of ladies, down to the most ragged contraband in all
that motley assembly.

" As we wheeled by platoons, and marched in review, the sight
which greeted us was one long to be remembered for its grandeur
and beauty. Line upon line of unbroken ranks stretched on as far
as the eye could reach. Over each regiment waved our beautiful
flag, its colors glowing with unwonted richness in the warm win-
ter's sun, the bayonets throwing back flashes of light, and the

THE CA1IP AT XEirBERX. 127

artillery and cavalry relieving the scene from all monotony, while
the Neuse, sparkling in the sunlight, and its distant bank covered
with the forest evergreen, formed a perfect background for this
gorgeous picture. Then there was the long row of spectators,
' some seated in vehicles of all sorts and descriptions, others
mounted on animals ranging from the finest charger to the scrub-
biest donkey ; while on foot was a crowd composed of every age,
sex, and color. In tiieir midst sat our commander, patiently
awaiting our approach.

"As we drew near, the band filed off to the left, and took its
position directly opposite the general, where it continued playing
till our brigade had all passed, when it was relieved by the next
band, and once more took its place in line. As each platoon
passed, the general saluted, while he honored the colors by remov-
ing his hat, the band also giving the customary salute. Battalion
after battalion, battery after battery, troop after troop, they came,
till the first battalion, making the complete circuit, came upon the
rear of the last troop, thus forming an unbroken circle. As each
regiment reached the place of starting, it halted until the long
glittering array was once more in position ; then again the artillery
thundered forth the salute, and the grand review was over."

During the winter the distinctive form of the drills of the
companies during the mornings was that of skirmishing, and
toward the close of our term we were practised in street-
firing, with an ominous forecast of the July riots.

When we arrived at Newbern, we found a parapet earth-
work located on the plain, close to the upper bridge across
the Trent. It was armed with eight-inch cannon, and was
called Fort Gaston. Its gunners kept themselves in practice
by occasionally shelling the plain. Stakes were set at re-
corded distances, say a thousand feet away, etc. ; and expe-
rience in cutting fuzes was acquired by close observation of
the point at which the shells exploded.

These occasions would call us all from our tents ; and, after
they were over, the experts in eluding the guards would go
out, and bring in the fragments of iron. Terrible things they
were, some of them, to be burst in the midst of human beings.
I had supposed that cast iron would break with a clean,

128 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

square fracture ; but I found, to my surprise, all sorts of
diabolical angles and spear-like forms in the specimens which
the boys brought in. We p.issed them round the tents with
various comments and grim jokes, something, as I apprehend,
like those with which Artemus Ward's stage-driver beguiled
the time as they were riding along the edge of the precipices
in the Sierras of California ; that is, in telling about those
who had been killed by them.

Some of the most necessary avocations of life are carried
on with tolerable freedom in a camp. There is little or no
difficulty in getting the services of a barber. Such jobs as
the repairs of shoes or clothing, which require more time in
the execution, are readily done in the intervals of duty.
, Carpentering, or other work calling for large Or costly tools,
is not so easily accomplished ; but needs in that direction are
met, in a rough way, by requisitions on the pioneers or cooks
for planes, axes, knives, etc. Artistic work, like that of the
dentist, is more difficult to obtain. We were favored, how-
ever, by the presence of "the doctor " (S. R. Adams) among
our number, whose well-earned reputation extended through-
out the department, and brought many a poor sufferer with
an aching jaw from distant regiments, into our street, to
depart a happier man.

Generally speaking, however, a camp of Yankees is a jack-
knife paradise. We skilled workers in wood and iron could
do nothing for lack of our accustomed tools. The amount
of brierwood pipes, and various t% bric-a-brac " articles made
out of beef-bones and the horns of cattle, to say nothing
about silver coin converted into medals, was enormous. Jus-
tice compels me to say that much of our work was of a high
order. Many a memento of Camp Rogers is in existence in
some of these forms, and they wili go worthily down to pos-
terity as pleasant memorials of the days which tested the
highest qualities of manhood.

My next chapter will begin with a letter written two days
after the 'one with' which I shall close. Gen. Foster had
evidently been warned that a large force, composed of Long-
street's best troops, was on their way to North Carolina, and

THE CAMP AT NEWBERJT. 129

he was on the alert to give them a suitable reception. The
notice came none too soon ; for, in ten days after its arrival,
it thundered and lightened all around Newbern, and from
that time to the end of our term there was no lack of inter-
esting events and stirring excitement.

Camp Rogers Newbern, March 3, 1863.
I visited Newbern yesterday for the second time since I was
here ; the first being on the 9th of December, when I happened
to light upon just the moment that it was all astir with the prepara-
tions for the march on Goldsborough, and there was altogether too
much excitement for me to enjoy myself. But yesterday it was
quite the reverse. My eyes were delighted with sights to which
for four months they have been almost entire strangers. I found
myself walking the streets among citizens, — women and children,
— heard gentle voices, and saw them engaged in shopping, garden-
ing, etc. I felt myself moved with gratitude to God, that hitherto
he had preserved me, and now, with submission to his will, allowed
me to begin, with the opening of the beautiful spring, — for nature
here is all astir, — to look forward to a glad re-union to the home
circle. . . . How tremendous the crisis in our national affairs ! It
seems to me that if I could have foreseen, when I volunteered, the
disasters that have happened, my faith would have failed me. Of
one thing, however, I feel assured, — however this great contest
may end, the North is to be freed from its complicity with the
curse of slavery. If there is a shade of doubt in these remarks
respecting the success of our efforts to preserve the Union, you
must not look upon it as a settled or willing conclusion on my
part, but to my narrowness of perception, surrounded as I am by
influences so forbidding as the present are in some important
respects. We seem as a nation to be brought to the brink of the
Red Sea. If the Almighty by his providence calls us to go
forward, ice must, trusting to him to heap the waters so that they
overwhelm us not.

130 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

CHAPTER ¥111.

ATTACK OX NEWBEKN".

Camp EOGEKS, March 5, 1863.
MAIL for the North closes at seven, and, as our circum-
stances are a little unusual, I thought I had better drop a
few lines to you. To-day, at noon, we received verbal orders, or,
rather, word, to be ready at an hour's notice to march in light
order, and for the cooks to be prepared to cook three days' rations.
We were given reason to suppose that we should receive definite
orders on dress-parade, but they did not come ; and we are told
instead to keep ourselves in readiness to march at any moment.
The rations, however, have not been issued to the cooks ; and
when Lieut. Bradbury, who has a large force of pioneers at work
on a road, went to Gen. Foster this afternoon to know if his men
were to go, the general told him that the Forty-third had no orders
yet, and of course he had not, and so sent him about his business.

Nothing of special interest occurred for a week, and we
were beginning to wonder what the warning meant, when
occurrences transpired sufficiently impressive to quicken the
dullest comprehension among us.

Camp KoGFr.3, March 18, 1863.

Last Friday afternoon, the 13th, just after supper, we were
startled by a dozen or more artillery-discharges, tired with such
rapidity as to indicate the extreme of danger, — very different from
the slow shelling of the woods which we have been accustomed to
hear on our marches, or the artillery-practice of the forts, which
has been going on more or less since the expedition to Charleston
went off.

This firing appeared to be out on the Kinston road, some miles
to the -north of us. It appears that Gen. Foster had proposed
something on the next da}-, the 14th, in the shape of a celcbra-

ATTACK ON NEWBERX.

131

tion of the capture of Newbern ; for during the evening we re-
ceived orders to he ready to march into town in the morning in our _
dress-coats ; but we were told to take forty rounds of ammunition
with us, as our pickets on the Kinston road had been driven in two
miles, and it was uncertain what the developments of the day
might be.

During the night, about one o'clock, there were unusual noises
and moving about in camp, rousing us from sleep. The long roll
was beaten, and we soon learned that it was in connection with
fresh orders to have oar breakfast at three o'clock, and march
immediately after with one day's ration.

We got otf about daylight, and went across the Trent b}* the
upper bridge, going over to the Kinston road, and striking it
about a mile to the north of Newbern. As we approached the
road, we came out of the forest, bringing Newbern into view about
two miles off on our right. We found that Fort Totten was ac-
tively engaged in firing. We supposed it was a salute to the day,
but were mystified to observe the frequent explosion of shells close
to the fort itself, and we were still further confused, as we marched
out away from the town, to hear that the firing continued.

[This was one of the finest sights that we saw ; but it came so
unexpectedly that we did not realize it at the time. The fort was
nearly hidden by the dense A*olumes of smoke from its own guns :
they were heavy pieces, aimed directly at the enemy ; and the
animus with which the}* were being worked was entirely different
from what we supposed. The great white cloudy rings from the
bursting shells in the air above, strangely mingled with the light-
ning-like llashes which were vomited from the black folds of smoke
below, with the national colors defiantly waving from a tall staff
over them all, were impressive in the highest degree.]

We had gone about three miles from Newbern when we sud-
denly received countermanding orders, and were marched back to
our camp by the same road we came. The firing at Newbern
continued until noon, and we also heard, about eleven, rapid
firing again out on the Kinston road. At three in the afternoon,
at ten minutes' notice, we again fell in, resuming our march in
the same direction, but reaching, this time, a place about six miles
out, relieving the regiment which had been attacked, — the Massa-
chusetts Twenty-fifth.

I should here state that we learned during the forenoon that the

132 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

enemy 'were trying to shell Xewbern from the north bank of the
Neuse. The river is so wide, however, — two miles at this point,
— and the gunboats were so active, that they did not accomplish
much. Those that we saw bursting over Fort Totten came from
this source.

As we marched out, we met returning soldiers, who all agreed
in their statements that the enemy were in force a short distance
ahead ; but on we pushed, reaching our camping-ground about
seven, -with the understanding that at least two brigades of the
enemy "were only two miles off. We could see their camp-fires
burning brightly across the plantation.

We were put for the night into a narrow gully through which
a brook ran, and told to kindle small fires low down toward the
water, so as not to draw the fire of the enenvy. The Twenty-fifth
soon withdrew, marching back to Newbern, leaving us with one
company of cavalry and two pieces of artillery. We composed
ourselves to sleep — those of us who could. I made a poor piece
of work of it, as my pillow was a stump of a tree just as the
woodman left it standing in the ground ; and the gully was so
steep, that my lower limbs were literally "two feet" lower than
my head. Those of us who were awake had the pleasure of seeing
one old " Merrimac " friends of the Forty-sixth file in on the other
side of the brook about eleven o'clock. We were glad enough to
meet them.

Our cavalry scouts assured us the nest morning that the enemy
had retreated. We lay in camp until about three o'clock p.m.,
expecting orders to return. But this was not to be ; for two briga-
diers, Arnory and Potter, came out to us, and we marched on till
after dark, again encamping, and posting our pickets. As soon as
we could see, on Monday morning, we were off again, as silent as
if we had been so many thieves. This time we went as far as our
first camp-ground on the Great March, — some fifteen miles from
Newbern, and nearly half-way in a direct line to Kinston. We
saw evidence all along the road that a large force had just pre-
ceded us ; and when we halted we formed in line of battle across
the road, with our cannon pointing down into Deep Gully. We
waited here an hour, not knowing but that any moment might
begin an action, as the place was one of the most defensible on
the whole road. During this time the cavalry advanced cautiously
some miles ahead, accompanied by Gen. Amory, and returned

ATTACK ON NEWBEBX.

133

with the report that the enemy had really disappeared ; whereat
we turned our faces joyfully homewards about nine a.m., leaving a
few companies of the Forty-sixth at the picket-posts, and reach-
ing Camp Rogers about four in the afternoon of Monday the 16th,
having marched over twenty miles that day.

We found that the invalid guard had been badly frightened
during our absence, as it was so definitely reported, as almost to
compel belief, that the enemy were out in force to the south and
west of us ; that they had captured and burned the posts on the
railroad between here and Beaufort, and torn up the road, — all of
which proved afterward to be wholly untrue. In short, it was a
time of excitement and alarm. But all is well that ends well, and
we feel as reasonably assured as ever that Newbern cannot be
retaken, except by a large force.

There were some incidents of interest which came under my
notice as we were going out. I happened to be close to Chaplain
James of the Twenty-fifth just as he was describing the heroic
valor with which the rebels charged upon and captured a Quaker
cannon, to find out at their leisure that it was a pine stick charred
black by fire. The chaplain could hardly sit on his horse for
laughter. This little affair has pleased us all. Just after we
had passed him, and got well out toward our Saturday night's
camp by the brook, who should we meet but a charming lady on
horseback in company with several officers of high rank. Some
said she was an officer's daughter ; others, that she was a fast
woman from Baltimore : of this I do not know, but it was a most
unusual siirht.

This was the only time that we were brought into direct
relations with the brave Twenty-fifth Regiment. It origi-
nated in the city of Worcester, in social and military circles
familiar with the struggle in Kansas which preceded the war.
No record can be found more heroic than its history. Some
of its experiences in the last campaign in Virginia demon-
strate that truth is stranger than fiction.

The Forty-third stood in line opposite to them, a few
moments, in a narrow road and in darkness, on the evening
that we relieved them : they had been under fire all day.
The trees gave evidence, as we passed the spot the next morn-
ing, of the accuracy of the rebel aim. Their spirits had risen

134 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M. Y. 2l\

to the occasion : they were bound to resist the rebel advance
till the last moment, and our presence was welcomed with
gratitude and patriotic affection. As I stood in my place in
the line, I heard a soldier right opposite to me, but whose
face I could not see, break out, in a subdued yet impressive
manner, with Scripture words of salutation and thanks to us.
I am sorry that I preserved no note of them ; but the tone
and spirit was that of Isaiah, " How beautiful upon the moun-
tains are the feet of those that bring good tidings!" To the
credit of our own regiment, I will say that there were no rude
or unseemly comments in reply.

In explanation of the preceding letters, it should be stated
that Fort Totten, which we found enveloped in smoke from
its own guns, as well as from the bursting shells of the
enemy, was the central and largest earthwork of the defences
of Newbern : these fortifications extended at least five miles,
— from Fort Anderson on the north bank of the Neuse, to
what was known as the " Block House," at Brice's Creek,
near Camp Rogers, south of the Trent.

Fort Totten had a peculiarity which made it quite a con-
spicuous object in the level scenery of North Carolina. In-
side of the work, a few feet in the rear of the guns, a high
palisade was erected. It was composed of large trees set
close to each other, in two rows a number of feet apart. The
space between the rows was filled with earth. The palisade
must have been at least thirty feet or more in height.

It was erected, as I judge, to protect the gunners from a
fire in the rear, to which they would have been much exposed
if the enen^ had obtained possession of the plain on the
south of the Trent, upon which our regiment, with others,
was encamped.

Major C. O. Rogers of Boston, who was on a visit to the
regiment at the time of this march, accompanied by several
friends also from home, rode out from camp with us, — I
think in the morning, — stopping a mile or two out. We
cheered them lustily as we marched past their buggy where
it had halted. The incident was an uncommon and a very
pleasant one. We were not usually cheered on in our marches

ATTACK ON NEWBERN. . 13-5

by well-dressed civilians in carriages. We were reminded of
home and the loyal millions of the North by their cordial
manners. Out of the deep places of my inner being I had"
an unexpected experience as I left them and pressed on with
my comrades to the perils of the expected encounter. Dana
has graphically described, in his " Two Years before the
Mast," the supreme satisfaction he had, while aloft upon the
yardarm of the ship, in looking down upon a seasick passen-
ger on deck. A similar feeling of conscious power took pos-
session of me, as I thought of the weak and almost imbecile
appearance and situation of non-combatants amid warlike
scenes. We were at home : they were not. Our individu-
ality had been merged in each other until every man felt, in
some respects, as though he had the strength of a thousand.
One of the greatest mysteries of our being was forcing itself
upon my attention by the trivial circumstance of two or three
unarmed gentlemen taking themselves very discreetly out of
harm's way.

I owe a word to the memory of this large-hearted and un-
fortunate man. Lieut. Turner, our quartermaster, informs
me that Major Rogers met him, on his return from Newbern
in charge of the sick of the regiment, and inquired with
great earnestness whether all had come. He further author-
ized him, with the utmost frankness and good-will, to draw
upon him for an}- amount that was needed to secure the
immediate return to their homes of all the invalids of the
regiment.

While we waited in our camp, during the alarm of the first
day, we noticed that the national colors were set, for the
first and only time during our stay, on the highest church-
steeple in Newbern. It was understood that they were placed
there by special orders from Foster, so that the rebel column
across the Neuse might be assured that their friends whom
we baffled on the Kinston road had not succeeded in taking
the town.

- Gen. Foster served his country with -zeal. I was reminded
by his conduct, on many occasions, of a reminiscence of Davy
Crockett, the Kentucky pioneer, who was represented, in

136 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

some rude "Western literature which tickled my untrained
boyish fancy, as taking refuge for the night in the hollow of
a fallen tree. While he lay in sound sleep in this helpless
situation, one of his bitter enemies came by, and attempted
to pay off some old scores by punching his head with a stick.
Crockett was fearfully enraged, as well he might be, at this
unfair advantage; but he could not resist until he got out of
the tree, when he at once proceeded to business. It always
seemed to me as if it would have been a good thing for the
country, if the whole force which was confined in Sumter
during that memorable winter of 1861 had been promoted to
major-generals on their liberation, as Foster was.

We had a fortnight's respite after the events which have
been related, when we were again put upon the alert by orders,
on April 1, to be ready to march at a moment's notice ; and
on Saturday, April 4, we were reviewed by Gens. Palmer and
Amory. I was struck with the searching scrutiny with which
Gen. Palmer and his staff subjected us to examination. I
don't think that they cared a copper in respect to the details
of our dress or equipments. They appeared to look alto-
gether at our faces, as they rode slowly by, looking with great
earnestness at every individual. This surprised me, it was so
different from the usual formal and external character of in-
spections ; but Ave ascertained a few days after what it meant.
We had not known much personally about Palmer as our
division officer, and quite likely he knew as little about us.
When we took, with our friends of the Seventeenth, the lead
of a column of ten thousand men, a few days afterward, we
knew at once what that searching inquiry into our morale
meant.

During the week that ensued after the first of the month,
we were in a state of expectation connected with events which
were transpiring about Little Washington. The ground actu-
ally trembled under us, as we lay in our tents, from the firing
of heavy artillery, at a distance of twenty-six miles, during
the siege which had begun at that place. The following
extract from the report of the Massachusetts Twenty-seventh
Infantry gives a detail of the circumstances of the invest-
ment : —

ATTACK ON XE1VBERX. 137

"The duty at Washington was unmarked by any incidents of
interest until the latter part of March. The many rumors and
threats of an attack, that had been heard for some weeks, finally
culminated on the 30th of March by the driving-in of our advance
pickets. Gen. Foster, being then in Washington on a visit, took
command of the garrison, at that time consisting of the Twenty-
seventh Massachusetts Infantry, eight Companies ; Forty-fourth
Massachusetts Infantry, eight companies ; First North-Carolina
Infantry, two companies ; Third New-York Cavalry, one company ;
Third New-York Artillery, one batten- ; having in all, on land and
gunboats, twenty-eight pieces of artillery, heavy and light.

" The enemy's force was commanded by Major-Gen. D. H. Hill,
and consisted of Daniel's Brigade of Infantry, five regiments ;
Garnett's Brigade of Infantry, six regiments ; Pettigrew's Brigade
of Infantr}-, six regiments ; Robertson's Brigade of Cavalry, three
regiments ; which force, with forty pieces of artillery, and some
independent battalions not brigaded, brought up the enemy's force
to about fifteen thousand." — Adjutant-General' s Report of 1863.

The following extracts from letters indicate the course of
affairs which immediately followed : —

Camp Rogers, April 3, 1863.

We are being disquieted again this week, having received orders
on Monday noon to be ready to march at a moment's notice, —
orders which have not as yet been countermanded. We have been
hearing heavy distant firing at intervals, sometimes all day, ever
since then ; and the statements are, that Gen. Foster with the
Twenty-seventh and Forty-fourth is shut in at Little Washing-
ton, some distance north of here, by the occupation of an earth-
work, on the river below them, by the rebels. We suppose that
the firing is from the heavy guns of our vessels endeavoring to
dislodge them. The statement also is, that re-enforcements have
been sent for from Fortress Monroe, and that a considerable num-
ber have been drawn out of Newbern.

It is said that Gen. Amory, our brigadier, is in command at
Newbern. Such orders as we received on Monday are issued, it
is said, to all the regiments, so as to keep all in a state of watch-
fulness, and preparation for whatever may happen. I notice, by a
"New-York Herald" of the 27th ult., that the rebels attempted
recently a similar game at Plymouth, and that help came from
Sutlblk, driving tliem out.

133 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

Camp Rogeiis April 7, 1863,
i Ten o'clock p.m.

I had, as I supposed, finished up for the night, and had Iain
down to sleep, -when the long roll was beaten, -word was passed to
" fall in," and we must be otf. It is said that we go on transports
to Little Washington. I had supposed that business was settled
up ; but it seems not. This is all that I have time to write. I
hope it will not be long before you hear good news again.

The "transports " on which we were to go proved to be small
stern-wheel gunboats, on which we embarked, and were carried
across the Neuse. Here we lay all night and all the next after-
noon, when we started, about ten thousand men of all arms having
come across during the night and forenoon. The Seventeenth
took the advance ; and we followed, inarching until nine p.m., going
perhaps, eleven miles. I got a good night's rest, having slept but
little on the previous night. We supposed the whole column was in
camp with us, but found in the morning that all but three regiments
and some cavalry and artillery had halted some miles back, while,
as a feint to deceive the enenxy by our camp-fires, we had advanced
by a different road from the ultimate design of our commander.
After marching some four miles back in the morning of the 9th,
we rejoined our forces, and turned into a road leading toward
Washington, but more to the eastward, and kept on, still in the
advance. About noon we begun to hear firing from our cavalry
vedettes and the skirmishers of the Seventeenth, which continued
at intervals until four p.m., when a heavy volley of musketry, fol-
lowed by the shouts of the rebels, admonished us of the proximity
of the enemy. We were near enough to distinguish individual
voices in the cheer we heard ; but the road was circuitous, and it
took us some minutes to come up. We found two pieces of our
artillery engaged with the enemy across a narrow creek, the mus-
ketry on both sides having ceased. The men of the Seventeenth
had lain down in line on the right side of the road, and as we
came up we did the same, the two cannon being abreast of us.
The enemy had a bettor knowledge of the ground than we. They
killed several of our horses at the outset, ( ?) and badly wounded
Capt. Belger of the battery in the thigh. Part of the artillerists
were new recruits, and some of the younger of them behaved
badly. After three-quarters of an hour of vigorous firing on both
sides, our guns stopped, and we supposed we were to be ordered
across the bridge ; but, instead of this, we were about faced, and

ATTACK ON NEW BERN. 139

to our great surprise we marched, and marched back on our tracks
until half-past nine r.31.

After an uncomfortable night, it being extremely damp and
chilly, we marched to 2sewbern. I had a most intensely interest-
ing experience as we lay under fire. All the wounded men passed
me ; and I was near enough to the highest officers to hear much
that was said. Our present impression is, that Gen. Spinola, who
was in command, made a botch of the affair ; that he should not
have attacked so violently without meaning to sustain us. We
have marched and countermarched about fifty miles in three days,
toward, but not to, Little Washington, and have returned home
apparently as wise as we went. We supposed we were to help
Gen. Foster out of his limbo ; but, instead of that, we very unex-
pectedly returned to Isewbern, and Washington seems as far from
relief as ever.

These allusions to the interesting incidents of the artillery
duel at Blount's Creek, as they came directly under my
own observation, call for further remarks. Such occur-
rences were happening every day at some point on our
extended lines between the Atlantic and the Mississippi.
They might have been numbered, undoubtedly, by thou-
sands, during the four years of fighting; but they were so
insignificant in comparison with the greater events which
were transpiring, that they are usually dismissed with a
line in the military reports and histories. After the novelty
of fighting had worn off, the press gave them scant notice ;
and domestic letters, from the participants in them, to the
home-circle, were, for obvious reasons, guarded and vague
in their statements of repulsive details. Many of these petty
fights, however, tested the stamina of officers and men quite
as effectively as if they had been parts of an action miles in
extent, destined to pass into history, and to be transmitted to
posterity with an honored name.

Having these conditions in my mind, I shall endeavor to
transfer to paper some very vivid recollections, which may
serve to •give more prominence to the feelings, of individuals
who were present than is usual in adventures of this sort.
In doing this, I recall the fact, that our regiment was ani-

140 HISTORY' OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.3I.

mated, as we approached the enemy, by a strong personal
motive, — a feeling of which we had not been conscious during
any of the previous engagements. We had acquired an in-
terest in Gen. Foster, which went deeper than respect. Our
sympathetic emotions were in full activity, and we heartily
co-operated with our officers in the effort to rescue him.
There were also strong personal tie's of friendship between
many of us and our friends in the Forty-fourth, which quick-
ened our interest in them ; but their Newbern camp was
remote, and they were in a different brigade, so that we had
not made acquaintance with them as a regiment.

Our surgeon halted at a suitable place to pitch the field-
hospital tent, — a short distance to the rear of the spot where
the fight occurred. He was a man of few but well-chosen
words ; and he was not disposed to flatter. As we went by
him almost on the double-quick, in our eagerness to be at
work, he remarked that k> he did not believe that there was
a coward in the regiment."

We were so near the enemy, that the artillerists whom we
supported were more than usually solicitous in respect to
their protectors. Spinola was from New York ; but he had
some very inefficient drafted men under -his command, from
the poorest material which Pennsylvania sent to the war.
We heard the men of the battery inquiring what regiment
was with them ; and, when the answer was made that it was
the Forty-third Massachusetts, it was to our supreme satis-
faction that the comment followed at once, without the least
hesitation, "All right. We are satisfied."

We had been driving the enemy's pickets before us for a
mile. Whenever there was an opening, the skirmishers of
the Seventeenth were in plain sight in the field. The natural
language of the cautionary faculties was vividly impressed
upon their bearing. One of the Confederates dropped his
cap, and was in too much of a hurry to stop to pick it up.
It was taken in charge by our leading .company, and passed
from hand to hand to the rear along the column, after making
many a vault through the air»as it was thrown to outstretched
arms. It was neat and jaunty in a marked degree, with hori-

ATTACK ON NEWBERN. -141

zontal visor, and stylish appearance, contrasting strangely with
the usual squalid outfit of the rebel rank and file as we had
observed them.

When within a short distance of the point where we finally
halted, we found two of the skirmishers of the Seventeenth —
fine, intelligent men, both of them — standing by the side
of the road, endeavoring as best they might to answer the
questions which our men were putting to them as we came
along. They were so out of breath from the scare they had
had, and from being obliged to repeat their story so often,
that it was with difficulty that they could talk at all ; but they
pointed down the road a short distance, and said, "Just there
— where the road curves — we received the fire — of a whole
regiment — as we crept round the sweep. The air was alive
with balls, — but we escaped." Passing one or two hundred
feet farther on, we found the Seventeenth lying on the
ground, as near the curve as they could go without being in
sight of the enemy ; and we piled in in the same manner, our
two guns unlimbering at the same time, and beginning their
fire diagonally over toward the right or northerly side of the
road. Nothing was visible ; and I have the impression that
they were guided in their aim entirely by the sound of the
enemy's artillery, which was by this time wide awake. The
ground upon which we lay rose several feet above the road,
and it was thickly covered by trees and undergrowth. As
we ranged ourselves, we left two openings or gaps in our line,
through which the cannoneers delivered their fire ; so that the
impressive spectacle was presented of a sort of living parapet,
composed of our bodies; while the openings represented the
embrasures of the fortification, through which the jets of
flame momentarily darted from the guns.

The next occurrences which I recall are in connection with
the flesh-wound of Capt. Belger of the battery. It was on
one of his legs, well up toward the body, and bled freely.
His clothes were badly torn around the wound, and he was
evidently a fit subject to go to the hospital. But he had no;
idea of any such thing. Something had occurred at the head
of the column, which had greatly disturbed his se.renity of

142 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

mind. His talk was any thing but pious. When I first saw
him, he was on foot in the road, close by us ; but he ordered
his horse, and, although he was too weak to mount unaided,
he insisted on being helped into the saddle, and rode to the
rear to bring up more artillery, as I heard him say. His
officers quietly expostulated with him, but to no effect.
That was the last I saw of him; 'and I doubt very much
whether he got any farther to the rear than the field-hospital.
I incline to the opinion that the pain of his wound caused
him to lose control of his temper. I have never learned with
certainty what really took place to throw him off his balance.
It was currently reported among us at the time, that one of
his guns was carried so far along the road, that some of its
horses were killed, and the men were driven from the piece ;
but I am not able to state this as a fact.

We soon became conscious, from our own observation and
the passage up the road of .wounded men from the Seven-
teenth, that the rebels had our range. The first one that was
brought up was a large, fleshy private, on a stretcher. He
was apparently dead, in fact was thought to be so; but,
though wounded in the breast, he afterwards recovered. He
lay upon his back, grasping his gun firmly, with his arms
around it, his features, as nearly as we could see about ten
feet off, being fixed and deathly. He was so heavy, that the
bearers walked with an unsteady step, causing his body to
roll or vibrate from side to side, reminding me, by an incon-
gruous and very unpleasant association, of sights I had seen
about market-places, or at the autumnal killing in the coun-
try.

The next victim that passed up was a fine-appearing ser-
geant, who walked composedly to the rear, with one of his
arms dangling useless by his side from a wound above the
elbow. I have the impression that the surgeons treated him
so skilfully that the arm was saved.

The Seventeenth reports eight wounded during the half
or three-quarters of an hour we were under fire. The artil-
lerists added enough to the number to keep our attention and
sympathies active as they passed by us. Two of these last

ATTACK ON NEWBERN. 143

cases deeply excited my own interest. A caisson had halted
in the road a few feet from where Company H was lying;
and two boys were running back and forth to supply the
guns, the nearest of which was about fifty feet from the cais-
son, with ammunition. I call them " boys ; " for I think they
must have been under the military age, which was eighteen.
They would take a twelve-pound rifled shell in their hands,
pressing it against the stomach or chest, and carry it in this
manner to the guns. On his return to the caisson, one of
them held out his hand towards us, and said that it had just
been scraped by a flying fragment. I was not near enough
to verify the statement ; but his manner indicated truthful-
ness. Shortly after, another lad, close to me in the road,
pointed to the bridge of his nose, just between the eyes, and
I saw the flesh bleeding from the loss of a part of its sub-
stance. I had, in short, demonstrable evidence that he had
escaped the loss of both his eyes, or his life even, by a hair's
breadth. I endeavored to make his case known to my com-
rades ; but the noise and the incessant occurrence of exciting
incidents prevented me, and I have the impression that I was
nearly alone in my observation of the occurrence.

That there were other details happening of which I did not

myself become conscious, I am certain, from the fact that I

have been recently told, by one in whom I have the fullest

confidence, that the caisson itself, not ten feet off from us,

* was hit about this time.

The " bo}-s " were pretty well frightened. They ceased
work, and came and lay down with us. The lieutenant in
charge of the guns soon missed them, and came to the caisson.
At first he could not find them, as we did not like to expose
them ; but the red facing to their uniforms soon revealed them
to his searching gaze, and he called them out, with some
emphatic remarks concerning their conduct.

The lieutenant remained some time near the caisson, en-
gaged in cutting fuzes, which he timed, as near as I can
recollect, at le^-s than a second. If the reader has any idea
how far a twelve-pound Parrot shell can move in that time,
lie will know how far distant the rebels were from us, in the
i judgment of the officers.

144 IIISTORT OF TEE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, il.V.M.

The field-officers had all dismounted, and their horses were
in charge of the grooms, a short distance to the rear. These
men had as much as they could attend to. The horses were
excessively frightened at the artillery discharges. I could
see a nervous palpitation or vibration pervading their whole
system at every explosion. They were held side by side with
each other, with their heads to the' front ; and the exquisite
sensibility of the noble animals would manifest itself first at
the nostrils, and pass by a perceptible wave or shock along the
whole body. It seemed as though they wanted to say, or to
have some one say it for them, " What cruel wretches you
are to drag us into your bloody quarrels ! "

Col. Fellows was much under my observation as he passed
back and forth. He appeared to be perfectly cool, but deeply
moved with solicitude for his men. I recall his language,
temperately expressed, yet with sufficient definiteness to
assure me that the situation did not meet his approval. Our
colonel was not with us, and our major was detailed to some
special service just before we went into action; so that the
care of the regiment devolved upon Lieut.-Col. Whiton. He
remained nearly the whole time at the place of greatest
danger, beyond the artiller}', with the right-flank companies.
I judged by his manner, as he passed occasionally along our
line, that he felt the same dissatisfaction that we all did.

With regard to junior officers, it will show how closely we
were pressed by the rebel fire to say, that in more than one
instance, and without the least discredit to their courage,
young men of spirit crept along the road past us, as we lay,
on their hands and knees.

It should be said, in justice to Gen. Spinola, that the honor
which was so suddenly thrust upon him by Foster's deten-
tion in Little Washington would probably have embarrassed
all his associate major-generals. It was no small responsi-
bility to step into the shoes of so able and experienced a man
as our leader, commanding, as he did, our unlimited confi-
dence. He probably felt obliged to^ do something, however,
and so he kt marched out with twice five thousand men, and
then marched back again."

ATTACK ON NEWBERN.

145

We judged afterwards that he did not mean any thing
more than a feint. The main column was held back so far
to the rear as to show that he did not intend to use them in
coming on to the enemy's flank. When we got into Pamlico
Sound afterwards, two of our number, Corporal C. T. Adams
and private Benjamin Rackliff, made a reconnoissance of six
or seven miles, after the rebel troops had left, over to the
place where we were engaged. They ascertained, to their
satisfaction, from the residents, that our opponents were much
demoralized by our persistent fire. The rebels were veterans,
and well qualified to judge of military probabilities, and they
apparently inferred from our determined efforts, that we meant
to hold their attention until they could be flanked by the
main column, and taken prisoners. Our friends also learned
the precise position of the rebel guns, and found that our fire
had done no damage, except to tear up the trees in an inac-
cessible swamp.

The duel finally came to a close by ordei's to withdraw.
Col. Fellows's men were so hard pressed, that he did not deem
it best to attempt to form them where they were, but ordered
them to disperse, and to form in the road in the rear of our
regiment. The first knowledge that we had of the retreat
was from the men of the Seventeenth, who came drifting over
the slight elevation through the trees in front of us. Their
faces showed plainly the stress of endurance which had been
upon them. They had met it manfully, however.

Col. Whiton gave the order to us to form in the road ; but
the rebel guns were still active, though our own had ceased.
Capt. Hanover observed this, and called out to him, in a
pleasantly suggestive tone, to form line by companies, as being
much more expedient and safer than to form by battalion.
Col. Whiton assented, and we were taken hastily away from
the scene of our afternoon's vivid experience.

While we were in process of forming our line as a company,
Major Lane, who had come at full speed to his regiment as
soon as his special duty was finished, rushed amoug us on foot,
and received a welcome from Col. Whiton, which it did our
hearts good to see. I think that both officers would have

146 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

been pleased to " -waive ceremony," and have a hand-shake
all round. I am sure that there would have been no lack of
cordiality on our part.

The march that followed before we halted for the night was
one of the most memorable that we made. There were inter-
secting roads which might have been. availed of by the enemy
to cut us off on our return, and it was necessary to move writh
great rapidity in order to prevent this. It seemed as though
our cavalry had set the whole of Craven County on fire. I
think we made no halt for supper, and we had no word in
respect to the length of the march, which proved to be fifteen
miles. What with hunger, the heat of the weather, the smoke
and heat of the burning forest on all sides of us, we made
quite a repetition of the experiences of the Great March, with
some additional ones.

PAMLICO SOUND.

1-17

CHAPTER IX.

PAMLICO SOUND.

THE two letters which follow give the outlines of our
further operations in the relief of Washington.

Ox board a Transport Schooni-.r m Pamlico Sound,
April 15, 1803.

Another strange mutation in our soldier-life brings me into the
hold of a schooner, "The Anna M. Edwards," along with three
companies of our regiment, G, I, and K; the rest of it being
similarly situated in other schooners alongside. There are six of
our gunboats here, besides some up at Little Washington. We can
see, about three miles up the river, a strip of new earth, which is
the rebel fortification ; and there is said to be another one farther
up the river. They are not very effective, however, as the passage
of the river has been made by small schooners loaded with pro-
visions and ammunition; and night before last a steamer, "The
Escort," passed up with the Fifth Rhode-Island Regiment, so far
as we know, without loss.

We are the only regiment in the river below the batteries, and
thus far we have been of no use since our arrival here, on Sunday
morning, except that volunteers from our number have been en-
gaged in loading and running up the small schooners of which I
have spoken. We don't know as }'et what will be done with us.
Yesterday, officers of Foster's staff came down, and one steamer
was despatched to Newbern, and one to Plymouth ; and, as we have
the story, troops are to be brought from Suffolk, and also from
Newbern, by land, to trap the rebs, or oblige them to run, as their
position exposes them to a fire in the rear. We could do this our-
selves from Newbern, if we were numerous enough. When I. wrote
you my letter of the 10th (begun xlpril 7), I was too much fatigued
to give particulars, and also too much pressed for time and the
multiplied personal needs after so fatiguing a march as we had

148 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGLMEXT, 3I.V.M.

had. It was fortunate that I took right hold of fixing myself up,
as in twenty-four hours from our arrival in camp, at an hour's
notice (April 11), we were off again. I had rested well, but
thought I was terribly sore from a blister on the sole of my foot ;
but somehow or other the excitement cured it, for I have not had
any pain from it since.

We were told that all must go who could crawl to Newbern, as
we should not have any marching to do except that ; and the promise
has been kept, for we remained on board the steamer on which we
came, " The Thomas Collier," until yesterday (the 14th), when she
was wanted to go to Plymouth, and we were put into the schooner.

It is rainy, and we are obliged to keep below deck much of the
time, and, of course, are much crowded ; but we have suffered the
fatigues of a march so recently, that the men are disposed to be
contented.

Thursday, a.m., April 16.

This letter had been partly written, when "The Escort," to our
extreme surprise, came alongside, and took three companies of the
four on board, leaving us, and then went to the other two schooners,
serving them in the same wa}', leaving the three largest companies
of the regiment, H, C, and D, and returning to Newborn with the
rest, as is understood to come out on another land-march, we will
hope more successful than the last. It appears that we are to
remain here for the present as a sort of marine guard for the fleet,
under the command of Major Lane of Abington, a most estimable
officer. In the event of a naval attack in connection with the land-
forces, it is said we are to be distributed among the gunboats to
act as sharpshooters.

"The Escort" reported that she passed up with perfect safety,
not being hit at all ; but, on coming alongside of our schooner, she
bore sad evidence of the perils of her downward trip, having been
hulled by cannon-shot several times, and losing her pilot by a
musket-ball, and having one of her deck-hands badly wounded,
besides a narrow escape from disabled machinery. The rebels
built fires close by the river-bank, so as to make her a fair target,
which accounts for the difference between her upward and down-
ward trips.

A rebel deserter, an impressed Northerner, came on board one
of the gunboats last night, and says the rebs are ready to leave at
short notice ; and if it is true, as is currently reported, that Foster

PAMLICO SOUND. 149

went down to Newbern yesterday on " The Escort," they are likely
to have all the notice they want by a fire in the rear more effective
than that the other day. His name is a tower of strength.

Camp at Hill's Polst, April 19, 1863.

I am writing in a little coop constructed of old boards taken
from an outhouse at a distance of a quarter of a mile. This coop
or hut is located a few hundred feet in the rear of what was a
formidable rebel battery. We landed here on Friday morning,
the 17th. The earthwork is at the mouth of the Tar River, on it3
south side. Our hearts are swelling with joy at the news which
Gen. Foster has brought this morning, that Rosecrans has won the
greatest victor}- of the war in Tennessee, and also in our triumph,
without much loss of life, over the recent rebel attack on Little
"Washington, which has kept us in motion all this month, but which
seems now happily ended by the passage through from Newbern
of our troops, under G-en. Foster ; the Ninth New-Jersey and the
Twenty -third Massachusetts Regiment being here in the same field
with us, having come in this morning, both of them just from
Hilton Head, S.C., by way of Newbern.

Yesterday the rest of our regiment passed up the river, on " The
Escort," to Washington ; and it is said that they went out immedi-
ately on a reconnoissance north of Washington, which is in plain
sight about three miles off.

Three companies of the Forty-fourth, C, D, and I, landed here
about the same time we did, and are doing duty with us. They
are prolific in stories of their seventeen days' siege. The}' lost but
few men ; I think none killed, and but one or two mortally wounded,
although under an artillery-fire from several directions. Their earth-
works saved them. Our gunboats shelled the enemy awa}' from
their guns many times during the blockade ; but the largest bat-
tery, this one where we are, was well provided with bomb-proofs,
having been one of the original rebel defences of the place; so that
they could not be dislodged without a land-force. The enemy had
only twelve-pound field-guns in this earthwork ; but these were
sufficiently formidable to interrupt the usual navigation of the river,
and even to make our gunboats rather cautious of coming to close
quarters on account of the exposure of their boilers, the boats being
of such light draught of water as to make them more liable in this
respect than sea-going men-of-war. They are mostly New- York

150 EISTOBY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

ferry-boats, with their cabins shortened at both ends about a quar-
ter of their length, and from three to live eight or nine inch guns
at each end, and in two cases at least a hundred-pounder rifle pivot-
gun. There are also three or four small propellers quite efficiently
armed with Parrott rifles, and clad, about their upper works, with
boiler-iron, as a shield against musketry.

The schooner referred to in the letter of April 15, upon
which we finally found ourselves located, was about half full
of " hard tack " in boxes. There was also a considerable num-
ber of bales of hay on deck : some of these we broke open, and
spread upon the boxes in the hold, making our beds quite
luxurious compared to what we had been accustomed to. We
were fearfully exposed to fire from the matches or pipes of
our smokers ; but we resolved ourselves into a committee of
the whole to watch each other in this respect. Drill was
dispensed with. The small schooners we sent up the river
in the night had been loaded from the steamer we came in,
before we left her, and we had little or nothing to do. The
east wind blew softly and warm up the Sound, and we were
obliged to wait for whatever might turn up. The resources
of the quartermaster's department were strained to the utmost
to find food for us. Sergeant Thomas King, who attended to
the victualling of our company, found himself obliged to itin-
erate among the gunboats for supplies of various sorts, not
excepting tobacco, of which there was a famine among us.
Ordinarily soldiers buy this of the sutler. When this resource
failed them, the smokers made a desperate onslaught on our
friend the commissary sergeant for relief. To the great sur-
prise of those of us who did not use it, we all had ,l a hand "
in the ration which was issued, whether we smoked or not.
For the first and last time in my life I was an owner of the
offensive weed.

Some notice is due the brave volunteers of Company E
from the Cape, with some from the South-Shore companies,
thirty in all, for their gallantry in running the blockade with
provisions, guns, and ammunition. The cannons were lashed
outside of the boats, so as to be cut loose in the event of their
capture, and the boats were loaded to the gunwale. During

PAMLICO SOUND. 151

the passage up, they grounded, when they were so near the
rebels that their talk could be plainly heard. They were fired
upon at this time. A ball passed through the cap of one of
them, and another was severely wounded ; but they succeeded
in getting through. They were highly complimented by Gen.
Foster for their skill and courage. • After the excitement of
loading the schooners, and seeing " The Escort " off with the
Fifth Rhode-Island Regiment, was over, the little steamer
11 Whitehead " went up within a mile of the rebel earthwork,
and signalled Little Washington for some time in vain, getting
no answer. We watched her motions with special interest,
as our lieutenant, Colesworthy, was on board as a volunteer,
and we supposed that she would be fired upon. The enemy
were silent, however. They may have suspected a trap to
get them into their works, and then open fire on them from
the gunboats near us.

In the daytime we could see a light haze, and in the night
a faint light, arising from a point in the forest some distance
to the rear of the fortification. When we landed, after they
left, a large camp was found about a half mile from the river,
the fires of which were still smouldering. They had used
hardwood altogether, so as not to draw the fire of our heavy
guns, as they would have been exposed to this, if their loca-
tion had been well defined by the free use of pitch-pine.

The rebel artillery in the forest near us was part of the
same force which was engaged at Gettysburg a few weeks
later, and it would be a natural question to ask whether they
annoyed us any as we lay helpless in the schooner. One
day, while I was below deck, I heard the sudden discharge
of one of the eight-inch guns on board of the boat which
carried Commodore Flusser's flag, I think " The Miami." She
was close alongside, and she lay between us and the shore.
I jumped on deck as soon as I could ; but I was not quick
enough to see the shell explode, though I could trace its
course by my ear, for it went through the air with a musical
whistle pitched upon a high key. My comrades pointed to a
targe old-fashioned house close by the bank of the river, and
-•lid that the shell burst just beyond the gable of that house.

152 IIISTOllY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

I could myself see the colored people scampering away from
the building in evident terror. I was also informed that a
piece of artillery had been noticed from the deck as it passed
a gap in the forest, moving down the river, apparently with
the intention of finding a suitable position to open upon us.
The connection between the above incidents, I presume, was
something as follows : —

Flusser was as loyal, and as full of fight, as Foster was ; and
the rebels knew it. The south bank of the sound was lined
at short intervals with large plantation-houses. In directing
the shell against the house, instead of the gun, he said in un-
mistakable language, " If you don't go back, I will open my
broadside upon the buildings, and burn or destroy every one
of them." At any rate we saw no more of the enemy.

One word here in respect to the clear, musical whistle of
the shell, and the precision with which it burst just beyond
the house. Fragments of shell are not supposed to fly back-
wards. The poor colored aunties, though terribly frightened,
were not in much danger of being hurt. This accuracy was
obtained by turning the shell, I might almost say by polish-
ing it. If the ridge which the two sides of a mould leaves
upon all castings had been allowed to remain, the shell would
have made a whirring noise, and would have been deflected
more or less from a straight line ; but our round shells for the
heavy smooth-bore guns of the navy were placed in lathes,
and all projections were turned off: the guns themselves were
thus relieved from much injurious friction, in addition to the
increased accuracy of aim.

" The Escort " presented an interesting sight to us as she
ran alongside on her downward trip, after having passed the
battery at Hill's Point. Foster was really on board, though
he kept out of sight. I suppose he did not wish that we
should know that he had escaped, as he hoped to surprise the
rebels with a determined attack in the rear before they knew
that he was at libert}-. She ran past the battery just before
daylight. Those who were on our deck knew that something
was going on up the river. But a mist overhung us, and the
guns were not heavy enough to attract attention at the dis-

PAMLICO SOUND. 153

tance (three miles) at which we lay. We soon saw her,
however, as after stopping a short time at a gunboat above
us, she came alongside. She was well spattered with bullet-
marks, and had been hulled several times by cannon-shot.
Her pilot, who was at the helm when he was killed, lay upon
the deck a corpse. Bales of hay were piled around the wheel-
house, high enough to cover its windows, except just enough
space to look out of; but the fatal bullet entered, neverthe-
less. The course of the channel was such, that, for a mile
before she reached the battery, the boat must run directly
head on. This would take at least five minutes, and would
bring her under the fire of the battery not more than five
hundred feet away : at this point she must turn sharply to the
east, presenting her full broadside to a six-gun battery and
the fire of infantry. During the terrible exposure, the vicinity
all along the river-bank was illuminated by lighting fires
prepared beforehand ; so that she was probably as plainly in
sight as if it had been in the daytime. Into this shower of
lead and iron her fearless pilot guided her; and, when he
dropped lifeless from her wheel, some one must have been
ready to drag his corpse aside, and step with composure into
his place.

She had a walking-beam ; and the pan el- work of the wheel-
house extended aft, enclosing the machinery, as is customary
in boats of that kind. I noticed that a three-inch ball had
struck the pilot-house on its side, and passed aft, through the
stiles of the doors and panel-work, at least twenty feet, gradu-
ally lowering until it reached the deck, which it hit at such
an angle as to rebound overboard at the stern. This must
have been done while the boat was running directly for the
battery.

Capt. Graham, of Foster's staff, was the only officer who
showed himself. His nerves were quite well braced ; but it
was difficult to realize that he had just passed through such
an exacting experience. Some of our men grumbled at being
left on board the schooner: but he told them, that, if they
knew when they were well off, they had better keep still.
And the event justified the hint he gave us, that we were

154 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

going to have an easy time, compared to those who went back
to Newbern.

The above account is qualified by a member of the Fifth
Rhode-Island Regiment who was in Little Washington at the
time. He says that "The Escort" grounded shortly after
she left the wharf, and was so much delayed, that it was broad
daylight when she reached the battery.

Our last experience in the river was on the afternoon of
the 16th. While we were lying listlessly about the deck, we
saw one of the gunboats above us get up steam, and proceed
slowly up the stream, frequently altering her course, as they
moved cautiously onward, reconnoitring every suspicious
locality. She met with no opposition, and finally disappeared
in a bend of the river. The siege had ended !

This reconnoissance in force, of Longstreet, into North
Carolina, and Suffolk in Virginia, is now supposed to have
had very profound relations to the circumstances of the war
at that time. Tiie hopes of the rebels were at the highest.
The army and the people were dazzled at what they regarded
as the invincible prowess of Lee. The higher circles of so-
ciety were elated at the growing disaffection in the North,
and the rebel government felt sure of European mediation.
Under certain circumstances which might have occurred, but
which did not, a sudden assault on Norfolk, if successful,
would have placed a seaport in the hands of the Confederacy.
If there had happened to be a large Anglo-French fleet at
hand, what then? We cannot tell; but we know that the
blood poured out so freely at Gettysburg removed this bitter
cup from our lips.

On the morning of the next day, the 17th, one of the gun-
boats brought down the three companies of the Forty-fourth,
noticed in letter of April 19, to Hill's Point, the location of
the rebel earthwork, and then came down to us, and towed
our schooner to the same place.

When we landed at the battery we had an interesting
study of the effects of heavy artillery. The gunboats had
been firing a hundred-pound Parrot t shell before our arrival.
About a dozen of them had .failed to explode, and they had

Bfwwa

PAMLICO SOUND. , 155

been collected by the enemy, and placed in a pond-hole in a
deep depression just in the rear of the earthwork. Many of
them had passed over the battery, and buried themselves in
the opposite side of the valley. They had exploded in the
"round, each one of them, making a hole large enough for a
small cellar. I noticed that one of them had cut its way for
quite a distance, diagonally, on top of the parapet, leaving
an impression, or track, in the earth, resembling the furrow
turned by a plough. The earthwork had not been injured in
the least ; or, if so, the damage had been repaired during the
nights. The platform for the guns, inside of the parapet,
was of earth, at least four feet deep, and it rested on hard-
pine timbers as large as twelve inches square, and twenty
feet long, which were placed close together, and they thus
formed the roofs of the bomb-proofs under the guns, to which
the artillerists retreated when driven from their pieces.

We saw no evidence anywhere of any loss of life on the
part of the enemy, a single grave excepted, under a tree,
close by the fort ; the circumstances of its location being such
as to favor the opinion that the occupant was instantly killed
while in or about the fort. The epitaph was as follows : —
" To the memory of Henry Devinport, Co. C, 52 N. C. Regiment."

The earthwork of which I have been writing was built by
the rebels as one of the original defences of Little Washing-
ton. It was a very grave error on our part to allow it to
remain intact when the place was captured. Before we left
it, we had the satisfaction of seeing the earth and timber of
which it was composed ktgo up" at least sixty feet into the
air; a cask of powder, as we understood it, being placed in
each of its four or five chambers, so as to explode one after
the other.

We were a few hundred feet in the rear at the time, and,
after the first explosion, we were glad to lay as close to the
ground as we could get.

The sight and the sound were awfully grand and impres-
sive. It was as if we had been treated to au exhibition of
five volcanoes springing suddenly, in rapid succession, out of

156 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

the ground. First a low, earthquake-like rumble, then an
explosion so massive in its character as to rise entirely above
a comparison with the heaviest artillery, and then the vehe-
ment extrusion of a great body of the reddest and most lurid
flame, bearing large volumes of thick black smoke, as well
as earth and heavy timber, aloft, to be followed with an
instantaneous collapse and silence.

During the time we were here, we picketed the only road
which led to the place. The men who were on our outer
post fired during the early part of one night, and fell back to
the barricade. This unsettled the guard somewhat, although
we did not believe there was any real cause of alarm. Those
who were on duty went out again, while the rest of us slept.

When the Confederates went off, they left a large forest-
fire burning somewhere within a quarter or half mile of us.
It illuminated the forest all round with a dim light, and we
were near enough to it to hear a constant dull, furnace-like
roar. My companions (six of them, I think), under command
of acting Lieut. Edmunds, were supposed to be asleep in a
small hut close to me, — the reserve post. I was in a sitting
posture outside, near to them, dozing, but conscious. In an
instant of time I was put upon my feet, wide awake, by one
of the most tremendous crashes I ever heard. I suppose that
the concussion of the falling buildings iu our great Novem-
ber fire was no heavier than the shock with which I was thus
suddenly assailed. Some great giant of the forest had gone
down, and in its fall had dragged an acre or two of trees with
it. I comprehended the situation at once, and was not. of
course, thrown off my balance by it ; but not so my comrades,
every one of whom were naturally cool and brave men. I
judge that they were really soundly asleep, yet with the
monition upon their minds appropriate to the situation, and
that the inward voice was more than ordinarily alert in con-
sequence of the alarm we had already experienced. At any
rate, they were for an instant or two scared out of their wits.
I had never seen the hair actually rise on the heads of men,
and their eyes look like saucers, but once in my life before,
and that was under circumstances of extreme danger, on board

PAMLICO SOUND. 157

ship ; but I saw it then. It was ludicrous in the highest
degree ; and yet it was a fearful sight. For a few seconds J
thought they would get away from me, and go back to camp
on the dead run without their guns ; but the tones of my
voice, as much as any thing I could say in such a situation,
soon calmed them, and then the laughter was as uncontrolled
as the terror had been. What a sight it must be to see a
brave regiment stampeded in the night, in a panic ! It hap-
pened to such regiments in both armies, from less impressive
reasons than in this instance.

During the forenoon of April 24, the steamer " Long
Island " came down from Little Washington, with our recri-
meut on board. We gladly rejoined them, having been sepa-
rated eight days; the only detail of our company during our
connection with the regiment.

After we were on board, she proceeded down into the
Sound, and round to Newbern, reaching Camp Rogers the
next day at noon ; our company having been absent two
weeks. The following letter details the exterior circum-
stances of the next call which was made upon the regiment.
This march was made in connection with the battle of Chan-
cellorsville. On this very day, our friends of H, First Regi-
ment, received orders to have eight days' rations ready; and
they began their march on the next day, the 28th.

Camp Kogers, May 3, 18G3.
When I wrote you last sabbath (the 26th ult.), we hoped, to
Bay the least, that we should be allowed to remain in camp long
enough to thoroughly recruit ourselves ; which seemed a reasonable
desire, as there had only been an interval of ten days since the
first week in March, that we had been free from the discomfort of
marching orders. But at ten p.m. that night we were aroused
by Capt. Hanover coming to our tents, and telling us that we must
be ready to march at daylight on the 27th, with three days' rations
ami one hundred rounds of ammunition. We composed ourselves
again to such sleep as we could get under the circumstances. When
we awoke, toward morning, we were told that our march had been
postponed until ten a.m., before which time we were in line, and
started, as we had come to understand from various sources, for
the depot in Newbern.

158 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

We found, as we got into Newbern, that two regiments of our
own brigade, the Seventeenth and the Forty- fifth, were afoot, and
also the Massachusetts Fifth and Twenty-seventh ; and out on
the railroad we were joined by a Pennsylvania regiment, the Fifty-
eighth. After a listless and wearisome waiting of two or three
hours in the streets of Newbern, which proved to be a foretaste
of the most prominent peculiarity of the expedition, we got on to
platform-cars, and started in the direction of Kinston. The train
stopped at Bachcller's Creek, a fortified picket-station about eight
miles from Newbern, which has been deemed the outer post in this
direction, though I believe the road has been in working-order a
few miles farther. Here a part of the force left the train, our
own regiment being among them. About sundown we again took
the cars, and rode some eight miles farther, encamping with
the Seventeenth and Forty-fifth. Meanwhile the Fifty-eighth and
Twenty-Seventh march off on a side-road, with the intention of
getting in the rear of a rebel picket-post, which it is understood
has been established within ten miles of this our last camp.

We remained in this camp two days. About eleven o'clock in
the forenoon of the first day, the Forty-fifth, lying alongside of
us, received orders to ,k fall in." Without their haversacks, they
were marched out upon the railroad to the before-mentioned picket-
post, and, with the aid of the regiments which had already gone
out, drove off the rebels, — a force of perhaps three hundred men,
— with the loss of two or three killed and a few wounded on our
side.

The next night afterwards, our regiment received orders to be
prepared to go out on the railroad as guard to the pioneers of our
own and the Forty-fifth Regiments, who were engaged in rebuilding
the road. We accordingly went out about four miles, encamping
in the forest, and remaining there until ten a.m. the next day.
which was Friday, the 1st of May, when we had orders to fall in
for Newbern. Large bodies move slowly; and, although a single
regiment is not much in these days, we had to wait nearly an hour
before our pickets could be called in. Meantime some of the men
had set fire to our huts and the trees about them, which burned
very freely on account of having their bark taken off, for about
one-third of the diameter and some fifteen feet high, to allow the
sap to exude ; and this, by the smoke and fierceness of the heat.
drove us away from our first line, toward the railroad, where we

PAMLICO SOUND. 159

finally form, and march back on foot, hopping across the sleepers
to our first camp, which we found deserted ; the men who had
occupied it being in two long trains of cars. We got on with
them, and waited indefinitely to take aboard officers' horses, and
quartermaster's stores, etc., a roasting sun beating upon us, cheer-
ful, yet longing for the cooling breeze from the east, which re-
freshes us every time the cars move. -We start along a few miles
farther, thinking that we are finally off, when, behold ! we come to
the Twenty-seventh, waiting for us in the forest. We thought our
train was full, as great pains had been taken to pack us close
together ; but we were astonished by the brigadier in charge of the
Twenty-seventh telling us to move forward so as to make room for
his men. As our boys complied slowly, he told them quietly, that
his regiment had got to come on, and the quicker we moved, the less
time we should have to wait. It was surprising to see how soon
the matter was arranged, and we were speeding at a high rate on
our way to Newbern. It was quite an exciting ride. The road
was not in the best of order, and the train swayed heavily from
side to side. We were stowed so closely, that nothing was visible
to us except the locomotive and the men. It did not require a
very violent exercise of the imagination to suppose ourselves to be
a gigantic serpent, spitting fire and smoke, intent upon an assault
on Newbern.

At Newbern there was another tedious delay, as all but our own
regiment left the cars here. When this was accomplished, we went
through one of the principal streets of the town, and over the
railroad-bridge, across the Trent, stopping at the nearest point to
our own camp, where we left the cars, and reached Camp Rogers
about four o'clock p.m., having been gone nearly five days.

The birds whispered to me very early on this march, that there
was a good deal of buncombe to it. Many of the men thought
our hundred rounds meant an advance on Kinston, and plenty of
Gghting. I did not think any such thing. The repair of the
road was a mere sham, only sufficient to give the impression, at a
distance, that we were in earnest ; and other things, such as run-
ning the trains up and down, blowing whistles, setting fire to
forests, moving troops, etc., were all on a scale to alarm the enemy,
:md quite give them to understand that we did really intend to
move on Kinston. Our ammunition was an awful load in such
wu.rm weather, weighing nearly ten pounds. This department is

160 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

notorious for loading men in this waj-, in consequence, it is said.
of some of the principal regiments at the battle of Newbern being
reduced to one or two rounds, having gone in with only forty, and
nearly losing the fight by it.

This was our last marching experience in North Carolina.
On the 23d of May the regiment was under orders again, but
was not sent out. The occasion was as follows. Five regi-
ments were out on the railroad on a similar errand to the one
we had recently been. They had obtained very marked ad-
vantages in breaking up a picket-post. Stung by repeated
assaults of this sort, the rebels rallied in large numbers from
Kinston, and followed the column, on its return, up to the
Newbern forts ; our force being considerably demoralized, its
commander, the brave Col. Jones of the Fifty-eighth Penn-
sylvania Infantry, being killed.

■pp

NEWBERX. 161

CHAPTER X,

"NEWBERN.

THE following extracts from letters written during May
and June outline the experiences of the company and
regiment during that time : —

Camp Rogers, May 9, 1S63.

If the Forty-third were all Catholics, I should say that this was
carnival week ; for, with the exception of guard-duty and dress-
parade, we have had nothing to do (but fatigue-work) since we
arrived in camp a week ago yesterda}', making it more than a
month since we had anj- drilling. We had two daj's of intensely
hot weather the first of the week ; but the rest of the time has been
quite comfortable.

Lieut. Bradbury has been busy erecting shelters on each guard-
beat ; and during the heat of the day we loop up the bottom of
our tent, and lay back.

One feature of our experience is not so agreeable. The flies
are as numerous and annoying as we have them in August. In
the course of the forenoons, the different forts, apparently com-
mencing over across the Neuse, and coming to those nearest to us,
begin practice in firing. This is facilitated by the fact that the
fields are not occupied by infantry.

Brigade Headquarters, Newbees,
May 19, 1863."
Sabbath before last, in company with three comrades, I walked
about four miles, to the battlefield of Newbern. When we reached
the place, we followed the earthworks down to the fort on the bank
of the Neuse. It was an exceedingly interesting trip to me. I
was able to understand all the prominent features of the engage-
ment, even to ascertaining, within a few feet, of where Adjutant
Stearns of the Twenty-first fell. The field is covered now with
the decaying remains of equipments which the rebels abandoned,
so sudden was their flight.

162 IIISTOBY OF THE FOKTY-TUMD REGIMENT, M.V.2T.

. Brigade Headquarters, Kettber.v,
May 23, 1863.

Matters seem to be working very favorablj- in the formation of
the colored brigade. It was only on Monday that the officers, under
Col. Wild, reached here; and the}' have one regiment alreadv.
There seems to be a rush on the part of the blacks to join. I have
no doubt of their ability to make at deast fair soldiers, and, in
many cases, after drill and experience, superior ones. ^Ye are
not without mean, and, I may almost say, half-witted efforts to
defeat this noble movement. But they will prove abortive, for the
exigencies of our position, by an irresistible logic, are working
out the kind designs of Providence : in fact, opposition is being
silenced.

Camp Rogers, May 30, 1863.

The fields about us, so sterile last November, are yielding black-
berries in profusion. Great quantities are picked by the men. The
latest excitement in camp is the recruiting and obtaining commis-
sions in the new heavy artillery regiment (Second), which it is pro-
posed to raise out of the nine-months men here, to garrison forts
in North Carolina. Gen. Foster has been round to each regiment,
offering a hundred and fifty dollars bounty, thirty days furlough,
and three months in camp in Massachusetts. They are making a
fair start in our camp, though most of the activity is in getting
commissions. Many of the men who have a fair disposition to
re-enlist prefer to make up their minds in Massachusetts.

Camp Rogers, June 14, 1SG3.
' I am seated outside of my tent, under a canopy of leaves, which,
although somewhat dry, still answer their intended purpose of ex-
cluding the sun while they admit the air. The day is cloudy,
though still hot. AYe feel the mitigation of the temperature very
sensibly, as until yesterday, which was rainy, there has been no
intermission, for long weeks, of clear skies and burning suns. We
have been, however, favored with light breezes, which have set up
the valley of the Neuse with sufficient force to afford partial relief.

The dates of two of the preceding letters indicate a detail
which came to me for a ten-days' course of guard-duty at
Gen. Amory's house in Ncwbern, thus bringing me slightly
in contact with the corporate life of the place ; for more than

NEU'BERN. 163

this could not be said of a town deserted by its inhabitants,
and under such strict military control, that a pass must be
shown to sentries at every corner.

I noted in this connection, however, the remarkable in-
congruity of the transfer, by immigration, to North Carolina,
of the hardy mountaineers of Switzerland. Holland itself
would hardly appear to be in greater danger of submergence
than a large part of eastern North Carolina Ls ; yet to these
swampy precincts came the men and women who were born
and reared under the awful shadow of Mont Blanc. The
universal local spelling of the name of the town is New
Berne. They must have had vigorous health and stout
hearts to resist the combined forces of malaria and home-
sickness.

The moral character of the influences to which they and
their descendants were subjected were even more strangely
unfortunate than the material ; for, if my memory does not
much deceive me, they were Huguenot refugees, the last
persons in the world who would have looked forward with
approval to the complicity of their descendants with slavery.

I had always understood that the relation between master
and slave was much ameliorated in North Carolina by the
fact that the manufacture of the various descriptions of naval
stores, tar, pitch, etc., was carried on by small employers,
many of whom labored with their slaves on terms of greater
intimacy than prevailed in the cotton States. It is quite
likely that this was to some extent the case ; but, if it was,
then I say that I do not wonder that the divine patience
with the South was exhausted, and that he launched the fear-
lul retribution of war against the oppressors of his children;
for even in North Carolina the public conscience had become
imbruted. There was a revolting deliberateness of wicked-
ness in which the colored people were universally alluded to.
When we asked any of the whites about the wealth of the
owner of a plantation, the answer generally came, " He had
so many head of black cattle before the war ! " I make the
following extract from one of my letters, in order that those
who come after us will have a directly realizing sense, as

164 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, JT.F.JT.

they read this account, of the fearful curse which brought ;:-
from our homes into scenes of violence and bloodshed.

"As I was strolling around yesterday (in my second visit to
Newbern), I found a colored man, a little rising fifty years of n_- .
engaged upon a wharf in siding an oak-knee. I entered into c
versation with him, and found that h'e had been a slave until ['..->
battle of Newbern. (He was nearly white.) He was doing ':. -
work excellently ; and in a quiet and prepossessing manner, in an-
swer to a question of mine, said that he was thoroughly acquaint*- i
with his trade, and had worked at it all his days in Newborn.
Beaufort, and other North-Carolina ports, paying his owner abo
three hundred dollars a year, retaining only enough for the bare*;
necessaries of life for himself and family. I asked about his chil-
dren, to which he replied, that, when the secesh went oft", they touk
three of them away. It was quite an experience to me to see a
man evidently as intelligent, respectable, and skilled as any of our
Northern mechanics, handling the familiar tools of my own calling,
and yet so recently delivered from so abject a condition. I felt
more than ever, that, if the South rules, it will ruin."

Whenever I was in Newbern, I found myself drawn irre-
sistibly to the contemplation of one of the most interesting
natural objects upon which my eyes ever rested. This wa-
the palm-tree, growing in the open air, on the southerly < r
border street of the town, near the point of the peninsula.
It was in the front-yard of a fair-sized, two-story house, wit:;
which it compared well in height; so that it must, I judge,
have been as tall, at least, as thirty feet. Its exquisite sym-
metry formed its chief attraction to the outward sense. Tinre
were no angles about it, as in ordinary trees. I have no doub;
but that an expert in the use of compasses in the delineation
of curves could construct a palm, on paper, which should
very nearly approximate the living tree. The manner ii
which the trunk passes by imperceptible gradations into t.\
branches, and from them into the leaves, is wonderful. '1 -
trunk is massive at the base, giving the impression of the -
lidity of the oak in its hold upon the earth ; but, as the ev
followed the lines of the tree upward, its perception in* :
sibly alters, as it finds itself viewing curves as delicate an
graceful as those of the weeping-willow.

NEWBEBN. 165

But my chief pleasure in looking at it came from a higher
source. In my youth I had made a visit to the remote group,,
called the Magdalen Islands, lying in the central portion of
the Bay of St. Lawrence. While there, I was told that
nothing but potatoes would grow, so bleak were the climatic
exposures of the sea-girt isles. The location was about seven
hundred miles north of Boston, and, when I stood before the
palm in Newbern, I was nearly the same distance south of my
home. I was impressed, as I gazed upon the tree, with the
thought that the narrow belt of fourteen hundred miles, as it
sweeps around the globe in the northern hemisphere, includes
the homes of nearly all the people who have as yet risen out
of barbarism. The potato and the palm are in some sense
the sentinels of civilization. As I recalled my youthful visit
northward, my mind was repelled by recollections of the
chilly atmosphere of the arctic region ; and the equally de-
pressing warmth of the tropics was brought sensibly before
me by the association of the palm with the intense heat which
forced itself upon us in the early spring months of North
Carolina.

The visit to the battlefield of Newbern quickened a latent
faculty of the existence of which I had hitherto had no
realizing sense. I refer to the power to enter appreciatively
into those military combinations which lie mostly outside of
tactics, which are understood to be confined to the actual
movements upon the field of battle, without any reference to
the theories upon which a general of an army decides upon
the plan of a campaign.

In entering North Carolina through the Sound and Slo-
cum's Creek, instead of the harbor of Beaufort, or by the
Xeuse, Burnside really got into the house through the un-
r-":arded back door, which was comparatively open, instead
of the front one, which, in either case, was strongly fortified
by Fort Macon at Beaufort, and the obstacles of various
kinds which were placed in the river to hinder a direct
attack on Newbern by the way of the Neuse.

The astonishment and alarm of the Confederates must have
been as great as that of the French at the Nile when Nelson

rmmmma

166 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-TFIIBD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

sailed around their fleet, which lay at anchor, and engaged
them on the side of the ships toward the shore : most of their
guns had been removed from this side to an island in thi ir
front. The surrender of the whole coast-line of North Caro-
lina was a matter almost of necessity the moment that New-
born was captured, and it did, in'-fact, follow with but little
bloodshed in a few weeks. The victory at Roanoke Island
l uncovered Norfolk, and compelled its evacuation.

I had a very peculiar experience in another respect, as I
strolled over the battlefield, with every sense open to the
heroic and elevated impressions which naturally affect a!!
thoughful visitors to such scenes, and above all those \\h >
have themselves experienced the strong emotions which swell
the breast where every thing is hazarded against a chance
shot or shell.

Our dead were buried together upon the field of action, a
graveyard being improvised ; but most of them had not been
permitted to remain. Lying as they did in immediate prox-
imity to water transportation to the North, the affection ( f
friends overcame all obstacles in the way of their removal.
The locality was unfrequented, and there was therefore no
occasion to incur extra expense or labor in refilling the
graves. The effect, as matters were at my visit, must have
been rather sensational to all believers in the literal resurrec-
tion of the body ; for it looked very much as though Gabriel
had made a beginning of his work in a manner very encour-
aging to their phase of faith. I was not open to that class oi
influences; but I rather revolted, in spite of myself, at a
certain air of ghastliness which so many yawning graves
presented.

A retrospective view of the history of the regiment calls
for a notice of the universal exposure of soldiers to the ao i-
dental discharges of fire-arms. Immediately after our arrival
at Newbern, the casualty on board of "The Merrimac," by
which we were deprived for a time of the services of om
quartermaster, was duplicated by a similar one to private
John W. Fracker, who had the misfortune' to mutilate i. -
hand by the accidental discharge of his piece while engaged

pwsfl

NEWBERN. 167

in foraging a few miles from camp. He was sent to the hos-
pital at Newbern, and on his recovery accepted a permanent
detail ; so that we saw but little of him afterwards.

On the morning of the 1st of February, as I came off duty
as guard, about sunrise, I sat down on a pile of wood between
two of the guard-tents. I had been there about fifteen
minutes, when I was startled by the report of a musket and
the whiz of a ball, from some quarter close by me, though I
could not for the moment tell where. For an instant or two
I was petrified with astonishment. As soon as I could collect
my faculties, I was drawn by a deep groan of distress into the
middle tent, the entrance to which was but a few feet from me,
and there lay one of the guards, private Calvin Williamson
of Company F, with a ball through his foot, the sole of his
boot being blown apart, and the flesh and bones protruding.
He was rheumatic, and in the effort to recap his gun while
lying upon his back, through some stiffness of the joints, or
sudden twinge of pain, he managed to discharge his piece in
this disastrous manner. The day before, I had sat on the
wood, when I came off duty, twice, in a spot that would have
brought me directly in range, but was led this morning, by
inward experiences which afterwards recurred at once to me,
to a place which just cleared me from the range of the shot,
which could be traced quite directly by the hole it made in
the tent, and other tests ; as follows, the bullet passed over
the camp, so close to the heads of the men who were flocking
to the sink as to cause them to dodge, and struck in the
Trent. It brought a large part of the regiment out to the
parade-ground, and I received many congratulations on my
narrow escape. Certainly it was so ; for one step only was
needed to place me just where I should have been hit in the
body.

On Tuesday, March 31, as we were going on dress-parade,
we noticed our chaplain hurrying out of camp with a musket
in his hand. This was an unusual proceeding on his part ;
but_ it did not excite special remark, until, as we stood in
line, as motionless as so many statues, we were startled by
the report of a gun, and the passage, over the heads of the

168 niSTORT OF the forty-third begiment, m.v.m.

right-flank companies of the regiment, of a ball: it was suffi-
ciently close to the men to cause an involuntary shrinking-
The colonel immediately detailed a corporal and two men,
who preceded to arrest the chaplain. He was brought into
camp, and conducted up the street of Company H, just as
we "broke ranks; " the members of -the adjacent companies
crowding in upon us to witness the novel sight of a staff-
officer under arrest. There was much suppressed mirthful-
ness, sympathetic and respectful, however, in its character.
The profound regret of the chaplain was very significantly
shown in his concealment of his face bv drawing his visor
down. He was conducted to the colonel's tent, reprimanded,
and dismissed. He had a very narrow escape from the sad
reminiscences which would have harassed him in case of
injury to any one of us. He was supposed to have fired into
the water, from which the ball glanced in a manner which
he did not anticipate.

As we are about taking our leave of Xorth Carolina, I will
here insert some climatic and personal exposures, beginning
with a tropical storm.

Some time in the early spring, a large body of conscripts
passed by our camp, and took the road to Trenton, presuma-
bly on a march of the same character as our own in the
preceding January. They had been gone a day or two, when,
just at nightfall, we were visited with one of the most impos-
ing thunder-storms of this locality. The coast of North
Carolina thrusts itself abruptly into the ocean, and seems to
be the focus of atmospheric disturbance. A sailor's ditty to
this effect has become almost a proverb : —

"If the Bermudas let you pass,
You must beware of Hatteras."

On this occasion, darkness came on premature!}-, the clouds
hung so low and so heavy. The forests across the plantation
cast the blackest of shadows ; and although we were for the
moment free from wind or rain, yet it was evident that the
elemental war was being waged with fearful fury a few miles
inland. The peals of thunder were so frequent and so well

NEWBEBN. 169

defined, that, in spite of our better judgment, we could hardly
help believing that a deadly action was going on at no great
distance from us. We knew better ; yet really our sympa-
thies, for a time, were excited in behalf of our friends who
were "out."

I was on guard that night, and,_as the hours moved on, I
noted the passage of the storm-cloud northward, along the
inner coast-line, until it appeared to have reached Plymouth
or Suffolk. There it lingered for a while, the sound being
deadened by distance. Then it began a retrograde course
southward, following the Sounds and the Hatteras banks.
Somewhere in the small hours of the night it was upon us,
at Is'ewbern, in all its fury ; and we walked our stations, with
our guns under our coat-capes and blankets, enveloped alter-
nately in the blazing light of noonday, and at the next instant
in pitchy darkness, in drenching torrents also of rain, and
thunder so loud and so incessant as to mock the heaviest
artillery.

It was a night long to be remembered by those who were
exposed to its violence. When at Hill's Point, in April,
we had another of these characteristic storms. The flashes
of lightning were so brilliant, it seemed as though Ave
were wrapped in flames. Men who would have resented the
slightest charge of cowardice were appalled at the awful dis-
play of Almighty Power which we witnessed on these occa-
sions.

We had a brigade picket-post across the Trent, on a road
running through a thick forest. I had a personal fight with
an army of mosquitoes here one night, just before we left
for home. Their size and ferocity was something fearful.
They attacked in massed columns, with an energy that was
surprising. While off duty, I wrapped my head and face in
my coat-cape, and lay down, thinking that I had got the
better of them, surely ; but. to my horror I found, after it was
too late, that they had bored through the knees of my stout
army pants, and had drank their fill of blood, to my intense
discomfort. I was driven to desperation by them, and was
obliged to walk back and forth on a sultry night, swinging

170 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

my arms in the vain endeavor to avoid their thrusts. Singu-
lar as it may seem, we were not annoyed by them in our .
tents on the open plain, on the other side of the Trent.

Another pest of our army-life may as well be brought to
the front now as at any other time. We had a common
Sibley tent for the reserve-post at this same picket-station.
It was as dirty and neglected as was usual in such cases.
One day, while I was on duty at the nearest post, I noticed
that the members of the guard who happened to be occupy-
ing the tent, all at once, and without any apparent provoca-
tion, sprung out of it with a haste which could not have
been excelled if a live shell had dropped in their midst.
They then straightway proceeded to level it to the ground,
working with a zeal that showed that they were in earnest.
After I came in, I tried, in an indirect way, to ascertain what
the matter was; but nohody knew. For this reason, I fear
that I shall be obliged to leave the reader to evolve the cause
out of his or her inner consciousness.

There may have been a few who escaped this fearful nui-
sance, one of the greatest humiliations of our soldier-life :
if there were any such, they were fortunate indeed. Come
they would, in spite of the utmost care of our persons.
With the indifferent and thoughtless, they stopped. By per-
petual vigilance, those who were energetic in their personal
habits of cleanliness managed to resist, with more or less of
success, this Egyptian plague.

THE RETURN HOME. 171

CHAPTER XL

THE RETURN HOME.

•

rpHE ensuing letters detail the order of events by which
-L the regiment found itself transferred to Virginia, and
made, to some extent, a participant in the interest attaching
to the occurrences which culminated at Gettysburg.

Camp Rogers, June 21, 1SC3.

Yesterday was nine months since onr company took the oath
for that length of time, and, by a coincidence somewhat singular,
we marched to the barracks of Company II, Seventeenth Regi-
ment, and stacked our arms, while they served us the same way.
They have got our splendid arms, in the most perfect order ; and
we take such a set of Brummagems as you never put eyes on,
mostly Belgian smooth-bores. We are glad for their sakes, how-
ever.

We have received to-day New- York newspapers to the 17th inst.,
in which the North seems to be in full blast for another scare ; and
items from Boston look as though the Forty-fourth would be off
again (back to the scene of war). We look upon it as somewhat
exaggerated, though it may be, that, in sheer desperation, the rebel
forces are moving north en masse. It is thought possible that it
may effect us, even to the extent of going home by way of Vir-
ginia or Pennsylvania ; though of this we know nothing, and there
are various theories as to our possible movements. All drill is
stopped on account of heavy picket and fatigue duties (in build-
ing forts) and the heat.

Monday, a.m., 22<\.

So far as we can ascertain, the Fifth and Forty-fifth leave be-
tween now and Wednesday, and are ordered to report at Fortress
Monroe. We suppose they may be kept there, cr sent up to Wash-
ington or Philadelphia, or, quite as likely, sent home (which last
proved true). If we are needed, we may follow in their tracks.

172 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3LV.il.

On Board Transport Steamer "Tidette,"
York River, Ya., June 28, 1863.
|

If you received the letter mailed on the 22d, I presume your
minds are somewhat prepared for this. On Wednesday morning,
the 24th inst., the Forty-third, and all the other nine-months regi-
ments remaining in Newbern, received notice to be read}- to go on
board of transports, in heav}' marching order, at four hours'notice.
And at noon we had orders to fall in at half-past four p.m., when
we took our final leave, with three rousing cheers, of Camp Rogers.
Our friends of the Seventeenth Regiment swarmed out of their
barracks as we passed them to bid us a hearty good-by. After
the usual delays incidental to such movements, four companies,
including our own, got on board of this steamer; the rest of the
regiment finding accommodation on the steamer ''Emilie" and
the schooner "Skirmisher." We drew the most water, and, in
coming out of Ilatteras Inlet, we grounded, and remained for six
hours, until noon of Friday, the 26th ; our consorts having passed
out the same morning. We were directed to report at Fortress
Monroe for orders. We reached that place about three o'clock on
Saturday p.m., and, after waiting about three hours, had orders,
with the rest of our regiment, to come up this river, as we under-
stand it, to White-House Landing, where a force, under Gen. Dix,
is menacing Richmond, in order to relieve the pressure upon Penn-
sylvania. Ostensibly we are going to Richmond. But I have got
to be too old a soldier to believe all that I hear. Our colonel is
reported, on good authority, to have stated to the officials at the
fortress, that we were provided with but forty rounds of ammuni-
tion, and he was told that we should not need twenty : so it would
appear that the movement is only a feint. We were ordered to
leave our sick, and our heavy baggage, at Newbern, to be sent
direct to Boston. Malarial sickness is fast increasing in the regi-
ment, and there are some with us who ought to have gone directly
home.

On Board Steamer " Yidette,"

in Cues ape ake Bay, June 30, 1SC3.

I am on my return with m}- regiment, to Fortress Monroe,
from White-House Landing, on the Pamunkey River. We have
been ordered back on account of our complete destitution of every
thing except the personal outfit of the men (our quartermaster
and all heavy material having been left behind at Newbern), and
also fur the reason that our time is too near out for au advance ;

THE BETUBN HOME.

in addition to which, the fact that we have condemned arms and a
large sick-list has also been taken into account. It is understood
that we are to report at the fortress for such transportation to the
North as can be furnished ; we don't know when, what, or where.

Gen. Dix had reported the same muskets unfit for use a
year previously, while the Seventeenth were at Baltimore.
They had beeu two years in service, and their numbers were
less than ours by several hundred men. This gave them an
opportunity to lay aside the poorest of the muskets as fast as
they became injured. But, when we took them, the old con-
demned traps came out of the quartermaster's dust-holes,
and were placed in our hands. I have reason to speak very
definitely of one of them, which failed regularly three times
out of five in attempts to snap a cap; and the general appear-
ance of the piece was in harmony with its conduct. This
transaction, I am assured, would not have taken place, if the
remotest idea had existed that the regiment would go to the
front in Virginia and Maryland.

The letters above quoted have taken me a little in advance
of my narrative. When we reached Hatteras Inlet, we found
Gen. Foster there in his despatch-boat, to see us off, and we
took our last look of him, until years afterward, when he
came to Boston. We had the vexation to see k> The Emilie "
go through the inlet with the schooner in tow ; while we
had a reminder, as we lay aground, of the annoyances and
dangers which came near rendering Burnside's expedition
abortive. We managed, however, to press through on the
flood-tide, and followed our companions.

Two sea-going steamers of the largest size were lying out-
side of the inlet. They were understood to have been sent
South with orders to bring up troops. They were nut at
anchor, but lay listlessly in the long ocean-swells; their
heads pointing all round the compass, with motions as grace-
ful, as they rose and fell, as if engaged in waltzing, — an
illusion which was all the more suggestive from the glassy
smoothness of the water, which answered well in its flowing
undulations to the polished spring floors upon which gay

174 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3/.F.-V.

assemblies of pleasure-seekers pass the flying hours. I heard
no music, unless the measured pulsations of the surf as it
broke upon the beach might be supposed to supply the place
of a band. I apprehend that my sense of hearing was too
dull to catch the sound of the subtle harmonies which are
said to pervade nature.

We found that "The Vidette " was a slow coach. At in-
tervals of just twenty minutes, all the way up to Fortress
Monroe, she blew off steam. When the boys growled at
the delay, word came up from the engine-room that we had
better hush up, and consider ourselves fortunate that we
were in careful hands, as the boat was needing repairs, and
would not bear a full head of steam.

We passed Hatteras Light at a distance of a few miles : it
compares well in its elevation to Bunker-Hill Monument.
The low coast-line and the extremely stormy seas of the
winter in this locality, make its height a necessity.

We were very much crowded ; but our quarters were
above the water-line, and well ventilated, so that there was
no actual suffering. We were obliged to sleep on the deck,
in two rows, on each side of the boat She was not wide
enough for us to occupy twelve feet; so that we lay with
legs interlocked, something like clothes-pins when shut into
each other. This was all very well as long as we lay still ;
but irregular efforts to change our positions snarled our legs
as badly as if our heads had been full of "tangle-foot" whis-
key. We found ourselves obliged to systematize matters.
When a number of us had lain so long on one side that we
wanted to change over, some one would stand up, count off
a "platoon," and announce it in regular military style: he
would then give the order "About-face!" whereupon we
would all "flop" at once, with precision and ease, avoiding
the unpleasant predicament of confounding a comrade's leg
with our own. Of course, we were all "sober;" that is,
nobody laughed, or made any effort to extract any fun out
of our surroundings.

One experience, however, happened to us, which was any
thing but laughable: in fact, it came near costing some of us

THE RETURN HOME. 175

our lives. The boat, in all probability, had not had so many
men on board before, since she bore Burnside's heroes to the
scene of their exploits, more than a year previous. Her cook-
ing apparatus was drawn upon to its full capacity : in doing
this, a large copper-bottomed boiler was used without due
regard to its condition. The consequence was, that twenty or
thirty of us were attacked with severe pain and vomiting,
with indications of poison. I was one of les miserables. We
all recovered ; but the effects in my own case were permanent,
so far, at least, as to unfit me for duty, and, in connection with
the malarious influences with which my system was already
charged, I was finally prostrated.

We entered Hampton Roads during Saturday afternoon.
A small fleet of merchant-vessels lay at anchor, and we
could see " The Minnesota " at the mouth of the James
River, opposite Newport News. At the moment of our ar-
rival, a bank of thunder-clouds was in the western horizon,
obscuring in partial darkness the tall masts and heavy
spars of the great ship. Their gloom was enhanced by the
smoke and noise of her guns ; for she was engaged at the
moment in firing a funeral salute to the honored memory of
Commodore Foote, the gallant man who won the first naval
victories of the West.

The scenery, and the associations of the vicinity of the
fortress, are of the most interesting character. The land is
so low, that it makes little or no claim upon the attention.
The ocean asserts its supremacy by the absence of islands or
peninsulas. The swell broke angrily on Willoughby Spit,
outside of the anchorage, revealing the terror of the waves
when lashed by storms ; but in all other respects the bay and
the outlying sea with which it mingled were quiet, present-
ing no impressive indication of power to the senses, except
their magnitude: this, however, was impressive in the ex-
treme. The broad expanse of water stretching magnificently
seaward from the majestic fortress as far as the eye can reach,
toward Capes Henry and Charles, seemed a fitting arena or
foreground for the naval conflict in which, a year before,
"The Cumberland" and "Congress" had been sunk under

176 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

circumstances of imperishable honor, and where " The Moni-
tor" appeared unexpectedly upon the scene, and vanquished
her huge antagonist, "The Merrimac." The hull of the
frigate " Brandywine," in use as a storeship, was a conspicu-
ous object in the roads. She was associated in my mind with
the visit of Lafayette to America, having been placed at bis
disposal when he returned home. ' By a very grateful and
tender reminiscence I thought, at that moment of terror and
gloom in our national affairs, of the bright aspirations of the
young republic, and felt in my heart that it could not be that
our sun was to set in irrevocable disaster.

We received orders on arrival, as previously stated, to
proceed at once up York River, and report to Gen. Dix at
White-House Landing on the Pamunkey. We arrived there
early the next day, remaining overnight, without leaving our
vessel, and started on Monday, on our return to the fortress.

During the twenty-four hours of our visit to White-Hou>c
Landing we had very interesting calls from prominent friends
and acquaintances in our Chelsea company, G, of the Forti-
eth Regiment. " The Vidette " lay close to the shore, tin-
banks of which were near enough and high enough to per-
mit our main boom to be swung over our quarter, so as to
furnish a bridge upon which we could pass and repass. Our
friends were strongly impressed with the idea that it was
possible for the column (supposed to be about eighteen thou-
sand men which had been gathered there) to make a sud-
den dash upon Richmond while Lee was in Maryland, and
capture the place. We smiled at their ardor ; but we said
nothing calculated to chill it. During the next year their
magnificent record had extended from Upper Maryland to
Olustee in Florida, including the siege of Charleston. I
presume that when, a year afterward, they came back to
White-House Landing, they were not so eager to rush upon
the impregnable fortifications of the rebel capital.

This column, or a part of it, did actually advance ten miles
toward Richmond a day or two after we left them, but were
repulsed. Col. Porter states, that " it may be truly said, that
to the Fortieth it was due that lasting disgrace was not in-
flicted upon the entire corps."

TEE RETURN HOME. 177

The scene upon the York and Pamunkey Rivers was a
very animated one. It was well calculated to deceive distant
or superficial observers, and for the moment I was a little
puzzled myself; the item that confused me the most being
the fact that a large locomotive went up the river on a
schooner's deck, and was in process of transfer to the York-
river Railroad while we were there. Large numbers of
steamers, some of them of great size, were passing up and
down the river. They were often visible across the beauti-
ful meadows for miles before we met them ; and, when we
came opposite- to each other, a large amount of cheering was
indulged in. I recollect that one boat had quite a number
of rebel prisoners on her forward-deck, — sour-looking fellows,
most of them, in butternut clothes. On the upper-deck of
this boat, in front of the wheel-house, was a smart-appearing
Union soldier, a sergeant. He leaned over toward us, and
pointed with great earnestness and much gesticulation to
the after-part of the boat. We could see that he had some
piece of information that he was longing to impart; but, on
account of the noise, he was obliged to confine himself to
pantomime. We learned, when we reached the landing, that,
if he could have said in ordinary language all he wanted to,
his talk would have been about as follows : —

" We've got one of the biggest toads in the rebel puddle
aft there in the cabin ; " the fact being, that Gen. Fitzhugh
Lee, an officer of cavalry, a brother of Robert E., had just
been captured, and was on board.

On the passage up the river I noticed the ruins of a large
ship upon the stocks. Her frame had been completed when
the hand of the industrious artificers had been stayed, no
doubt, rudely. Nearly a third of the timbers, including the
whole bow, had fallen over bodily to the ground, present-
ing a sad emblem of the distress which the great State of
Virginia had brought upon itself.

On our return to Fortress Monroe we landed, and went
into camp at Hampton, remaining a day or two. On the
afternoon of July 2 the whole regiment went on board of
the steam transport " Kennebec," and landed at Baltimore,

EISTOET OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, Jf.V.M.

near Fort McHenry, early in the afternoon of the 3d. at the
precise moment of the final desperate and disastrous charge
of the rebels at Gettysburg.

We marched a short distance to the barracks, which were
provided for us in a large unfurnished upper-room of a sub-
stantial building which had been- iised as a tobacco-ware-
house- One of the most unpleasant incidents of t our whole
term of service happened during the ensuing night. It was
impossible to prevent the men who wanted liquor from ol-
taining it. They had been so long without stimulants, that
it seemed to fly into their heads at once, and with fearful
power. They were not ugly nor malicious ; but it made them
delirious with excitement. There were no accommodations
for commissioned officers in the building, and none of them
were present; so that the roughs had every thing their own
way as long as the "hoorosh" lasted. It was confined to a
hundred, more or less, of the illiterates of the regiment
Cnot one of them belonged to our company) ; and the way
that they raced around the great room was a caution to wind-
mills. All that the rest of us could do was to pick up our
equipments, and pack ourselves as closely as we could against
the walls, holding our traps in our hands. This wild scene
lasted for several hours, until nature was exhausted, and the
foolish fellows, one by one, dropped off to sleep.

My vitality was failing me very fast at the time, from
causes already stated. Being too weak to stand, I made a
rush alone for the centre of the room, which was compara-
tively secure, but not altogether so. As the drunken crowd
swept close by me, I attracted the attention of one of their
number, who sympathetically inquired the reason for my
conduct. He was an entire stranger personally to me, and I
was the same to him ; but he kept his eye upon me. and
acted in the most friendly manner whenever I was in danger,
actually saving me from being trampled under foot.

The next morning was the Fourth. The victory at Gettys-
burg was known in Baltimore. There was a certain air of
exhilaration manifested in the business portion of the city.
occupied mostly by Northerners, but, with that exception.

THE RETURN HOME. 179

no exultation was visible. Early in the forenoon the regi-
ment started through the city to its northern suburb, locat-
ing at Camp Bradford.

We marched for miles, through streets occupied by costly
hammered granite buildings, without seeing an open window,
a waving handkerchief,-or hearing a single cheer.

Our camp was on a steep hillside, in beautiful private
grounds understood to belong to a party compromised with
the Rebellion. We were placed under strict orders not to
injure or mar the property in any respect: a heavy rain which
came on in the night obliged us to disregard this order. The
soil was so hard, that we might as well have been on the roof
of a building, as all the water that fell above us ran down
the surface of the hill, and drove us at midnight out of the
fly-tents which were given us, with bayonet and dipper to
trench ourselves.

Fifty miles away from us, at Gettysburg, the same rain
was falling upon the bodies of poor wounded men, unshel-
tered and uncared for, so great was the number to be
attended to. We remained in this camp three days, nothing
of interest occurring, except the arrival, at a depot in the
vicinity, of large numbers of prisoners from the battlefield.

Those of us who returned home saw another depot, just
as we left the city, occupied by five hundred wounded officers
of our own army : their injuries were in the upper part of the
body, and all of them could walk. They had been furloughed
home until recovery. Their spirits were buoyant and im-
pressible to the last degree. The thunder of the great fight
was still ringing in their ears. As I mingled with them, I
saw another illustration, just as I had done when I passed
into the ranks of the Twenty-third at Kinston, of the influ-
ence of deep feeling in giving eloquent impressiveness to
commonplace utterances. My last letter home was written
from here.

Baltimore, July 4, ISCo.

I am sitting on my blankets, in a beautiful grove, among
elegant residences in the northern suburbs of this city. We
reached Baltimore from Fortress Monroe yesterday noon, went into

180 EISTOET OF THE FOETT-TH1ED REGIMENT, M.V.M.

the barracks of the Union Relief Association, and this morning
marched out here, ostensibly to remain until the first part of next
week, and then start for home. I do not dare to fully believe this,
as we get quite direct intimations that Gen. Schenck, who is in
command here, will wait to see the result of the battles to the
west of us before he relinquishes his hold upon the four regiments
of nine-months men in this vicinity, as, if they prove to be disas-
trous, Baltimore will be in imminent hazard. "We found it difficult
to get out of the place this morning, as all the streets are barri-
caded on account of their dread of a cavalry attack. The accounts
for a few days have come in so favorably, that public confidence
seems to be restored, and most of our men think we shall be at
home next week. As I have said before, you must try and restrain
your feelings so as not to be disappointed, as, in these times,
nothing is certain until it comes to pass.

The next event that happened, was as follows : —

" On the 7th the regiment received orders to report to Gen.
Naglee, who, understanding there was some dissatisfaction in the
regiment, on account of the expiration of its term of service,
issued an order leaving it optional with the men to go to the front,
or return home. [Eight hundred men were sixteen days over
time.] Under this order 203 officers and men voted to go to the
front." — Report of Adjctaxt-Gexeral, 1863.

During the latter part of the afternoon of the 8th, the re-
turning members of the regiment retraced their steps through
the city, and took the cars for Philadelphia, riding all night.
I was with this portion of my comrades. We were under
the command of Lieut. Lysander Poole of Company G.
Our orderly was with us, but too sick to fill his place, which
was occupied by comrade George W. Geary, who was unani-
mously chosen to take command of the company, in the
absence of the officers. We received very thankfully the
hospitalities of the Cooper's shop restaurant ; and, after a
short march through the city, we crossed the Delaware, and
took the cars for Perth Amhoy. Early in the afternoon we
reached this place, and went on board of a steamer for New
York. A very pleasant passage through the narrow channels

THE BETURX HOME. 181

lying west of Staten Island brought us to Castle Garden late
in the afternoon, from which place we passed to the Battery,
just adjoining. We lay upon the grass here for several hours,
taking much needed rest, as we had slept none on the pre-
ceding night. After sunset, we formed line, and marched
up Broadway a short distance, turning to the right, and going
on board the steamboat " Elm City,'" for New Haven. This
latter place was reached at daylight on the morning of the
10th, and the cars were taken for Boston, by the way of
Springfield, where we arrived in due time. After reaching
Boston, we were marched to the armory of the Boston Light
Infantry, in Boylston Hall, and furloughed.

My health and vigor had given out entirely. On the pas-
sage home I became rapidly worse, but managed to keep with
my comrades until we reached the armory, when I sank ex-
hausted on the floor. I was assisted by friends to a horse-car,
and came to my home in Chelsea to go upon a sick-bed, and
remained there for weeks, hovering between life and death ;
my whole system thoroughly pervaded with malaria; my body
corpse-like, so that the impression of the fingers in the flesh
would remain for a considerable time ; digestion absolutely
suspended, the most tempting food being placed before me
without the slightest effect upon the appetite ; the brain
itself, sunk in lethargy, or in feeble, delirious wanderings,
taking no intelligent note of my surroundings. Most of the
time I was with the comrades at the front. I finally re-
covered, being indebted, under Providence, to the skill of
Dr. Wheeler, aided by the most assiduous domestic care.

The experience of the comrades who passed up into Mary-
land is pleasantly described by Corporal C. M. Coburn, now
of Titusville, Penn., — the present commander of Post 50,
G. A. R. Department, Pennsylvania, — in a recent letter com-
posed from a diary.

Baltimore, July 8, 1863.
According to orders issued to the regiment last evening, we
were to move forward this forenoon toward the front. The fact
that our time of service had more than expired, inauy of our com-
rades having made their business arrangements to return home,

182 BISTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

caused Col. "Whiton, in making an address to the regiment, to
give the opportunity (under orders from superior officers) to those
who could uot stay longer to go to Boston. The result was, that
some went home. The balance of the regiment took up line of
march en route for Harper's Ferry, leaving Baltimore about nine
a.m., July 9, on platform-cars, passing the historical places of Relay
House, Ellicott's Mills, Frederick Junction, Point of Rocks, etc..
and arrived, without special incident, at Sandy Hook, opposite
Harper's Ferry, after dark ; the last few miles having been run
rather cautiously, fearing trouble from rebel guerillas, our loco-
motive being an iron-clad one, running in rear of the train.

It was said that several of the train-hands had been shot,
picked off by rebel sharpshooters, within the past few days.

Upon reaching Sandy Hook, we camped upon the hillside,
tired and dirty. On the next morning I started off early to look,
around. I found we were at the base of the famous Maryland
Heights, commanding the surrounding country. The fortifications
at the summit were in a sad state, having been left in a demoral-
ized condition since the unfortunate Col. Miles's surrender. A
large hundred-pound Parrott gun, which must have taken great
labor and expense to pat into position, was pitched over into a
deep chasm hundreds of feet below.

The view from this elevation is magnificent ; the lovely Loudon
valley extending for miles to the south-west. Returning to camp,
I found that the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-ninth Massachusetts
Regiments were in our vicinity, together with the Thirtieth and
Thirty-second New-York Batteries and the Eighth New-York
Heavy Artillery.

About noon, our regiment was called upon to do provost-duty,
and Major Lane was made provost-marshal ; Gen. Naglee being in
command.

On the 14th we assisted in the laying of a pontoon across to
Harper's Ferry ; and the rebel pickets were driven out of the place
by our batteries, who opened fire, at a preconcerted signal, about
nine a.m. We watched the effect of the artillery-tire from the
heights with considerable interest, and noted the telling accuracy
of some of the shot.

The mounted rebel pickets were not slow in getting back into
the country, to the south of Harper's Ferry. One party started
out in a buggy, and, when out on the road a short distance from

THE RETURN HOME. 183

town, he made a good mark for our artillerists. Several shells
were sent whizzing after him, and one burst near enough to over-
turn buggy, horse, and rider, down an embankment, where they
lay, very much demoralized. We saw no signs of life for a few
moments ; but presently a man was seen legging it to the best of
his ability, leaving the horse and vehicle to take care of them-
selves.

Upon the completion of the pontoon-bridge, many of our boys
went over, and visited the ruins of the government arsenal.

Gen. Gregg's cavalry came in sight soon after the bridge was
completed, and crossed over. They had left the main body after
the battle at Gettysburg, and were swinging around to intercept
and capture what prisoners they could from Lee's retreating army.

From late this afternoon, all through the night, groups of pris-
oners were coming in under guard : they were put on trains, and
sent to Baltimore.

On the 16th our army began to arrive, and we were glad to
find old friends in the Second, Third, and Twelfth Army Corps.
as they passed over the bridge to-day. Among the different
regiments we saw the First, Second. Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twen-
tieth, and Twenty-eighth Massachusetts Regiments. Company H
of the First Massachusetts was heartily welcomed by our boj's, and
the air rung with cheer upon cheer as the old veterans of so man}'
hard fights marched by. We also got the news to-day of the
surrender, to our forces, of Fort Hudson, and we really began to
think that the war was about over.

On the 18th we were relieved by the Nineteenth Maryland
Regiment, and orders given to start for Boston. Before leaving,
Gen. Naglee made a neat speech, and issued a complimentary
order, which was read on dress-parade this evening. He also di-
rected us to wear the corps-badge of the first brigade, second
division, Sixth Army Corps. We left by rail this afternoon, and
arrived in Baltimore at midnight.

On the 19th, Sunday, we were well fed by the parties in charge
of the relief rooms, and left at six p.m. for Philadelphia, continu-
ing to New York, where we arrived at five p.m. on the 20th, and
immediately went on board the Sound steamer, " Plymouth Koch."

We arrived in Boston on the 21st, and were received at the
depot by the Boston Light Infantry Association, who escorted us
up State Street to Boylston Hall, where a bountiful collation
was served to us.

184 HISTOBY OF TEE FOBTY-TEIBD EEGIMEXT, 2LV.il.

"We were also welcomed at the depot by the Boston Light Dra-
goons and the Chelsea Rifle Corps; the latter being our own
special escort. After our banquet, the Rifle Corps escorted us to
Chelsea, where we were dismissed, and granted a furlough until
the 30th, when we were mustered out at Readville.

The "Boston Journal" (of the £lst) and "The Chelsea
Pioneer" reported these receptions as follows: —

RETURN OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

The detachment of the Forty-third Massachusetts Regiment
which volunteered to go to the front, and remain until the rebels
were driven out of Maryland, arrived in this city this morning,
about eight o'clock, by the Stonington route, and met with a most
cordial reception by their friends. They arrived some two hours
earlier than they were expected, and were marched to the Boyl-
ston-street Mall on the Common, where their muskets were stacked,
and, under their captains, they proceeded to obtain breakfast at
the nearest convenient place. Many of their friends met them on
the Common.

The following is the complimentary order issued by Gen. Naglee,
at the time of their return home from Maryland : —

Headquarters, Harper's Ferrt,
July 17, 1803.
Special Orders, No. 14.

I. The term of sendee of the Forty-third Regiment Massachu-
setts nine-months men, under Lieut. -Col. John C. Whiton, being
about to end, they will leave for Baltimore at noon to-morrow, and
Col. Whiton will report for further orders to Major-Gen. Schenek.
The quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation.

II. The general commanding is happy to acknowledge the gen-
erous offer of the regiment to remain in service as long as the late
emergency should exist, and thanks them for the services rendered
as fully as though they had been called to the field.

He would further acknowledge with satisfaction the excellent
conduct of the regiment while attached to the department of North
Carolina, under Major-Gen. Foster.

By command of

Brig.-Gex. Nagi.ee.
George H. Johxstox, Capt. and A. A. G.

THE RETURN HOME. 185

The battalion of Dragoons, Major Wilder, who had volunteered
to do escort-duty, arrived, and formed on Boylston Street about
eleven o'clock ; and the Boston Light Infantry Association, under
whose auspices the reception was given, soon appeared, headed
by Gilmore's Band, and under command of its president, Major C.
O. Rogers, as chief marshal.

The Dragoons, who were accompanied by the Chelsea Brass
Band, mounted, took the head of the procession, and were followed
by the Chelsea Rifle Corps. Lieut. Blake. Next came the Infantry
Association, and then the guests -of the day, — the Forty-third
Regiment, under Col. Holbrook. Their war-worn uniforms at-
tracted much attention ; and their soldierly bearing and prompt
movements won them much commendation, and loud and repeated
cheers from the crowd who lined all the streets.

The route of the procession was through Tremont, Winter,
Summer, Arch, Franklin, Devonshire, Milk, India, State, and
Washington Streets, to Boylston Hall. Large numbers of people
were assembled along the route ; and the greeting of the regiment
was most enthusiastic.

At Boylston Hall a collation had been prepared by the city
authorities for the regiment, and, after their arrival, they were
drawn up in line around the hall.

His Honor the mayor thpn came forward, and was introduced
by Major Rogers as follows : —

Mr. Mayor, after an absence of over nine months in the field,
the Forty-third (Tiger) Regiment has returned to you and to
the city of Boston, which has nurtured and cared for them, and
remembered them, through the whole time that they have been
gone. I have the pleasure of presenting to you Col. Holbrook,
and of saying to him, that whatever words can be uttered for the
gratification of the regiment will now be uttered by you.

[Mayor's address not reported.]

[Pioneer, July 25, 1SG3.]

MILITARY AND CIVIC RECEPTION.
That portion of the Forty-third Massachusetts Regiment which
volunteered, at the expiration of their nine-months enlistment, to
march under Gen. Naglee to the front, and were attached to the
Sixth Army Corps, forming a part of the Army of the Potomac,
arrived in Boston on Tuesday, where they met with an enthusi-

1S6 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

astic reception. Capt. Hanover's command, Company H of Chel-
sea, was subsequently received by members of our city government
and a large concourse of citizens at the Ferry, where they arrived
under escort of the Chelsea Rifle Corps. They thence proceeded,
amid the enthusiasm of the people, expressed in repeated cheers, to
Winnisimmet Square, where they halted for a few moments, were
grasped by ready hands in fits of Northern shakes, and soon after
entered the armory. Here they were received by the Rifle Corps,
who presented arms, and, through Lieut. Blake, greeted their re-
turn with a few brief and fitting expressions of welcome. Capt.
Hanover replied.

E. C. Fitz, Esq., president of the Common Council, welcomed
the returned soldiers in behalf of the city. He said, that in the
absence of the mayor, and in consequence of the diffidence ( !) of
the chairman of the Board of Aldermen (Churchill), it devolved
upon him to give to the returned soldiers a few honest words of
welcome. The incidents of the day brought to his mind a remi-
niscence of 1862, when Chelsea was called upon to supply a
quota of troops which seemed to her disproportionately large. I
remember when you, Mr. Commander, unfurled your banner in
yonder Square, and called upon the citizens of Chelsea to enroll
their "names in the defence of their country. How they responded,
let the muster-roll make answer. Never will the people of Chelsea
forget the sensation of pride which animated their souls, when,
after days of anxiety inseparable from such a demand upon their
hearts and homes, we received the gratifying announcement that
Chelsea's quota was full. Nobly have you clone your duty. The
battlefields and swamps of North Carolina testify to your faithful-
ness. Permit me to allude to an act of heroism on your part that
should not be overlooked. When absolved from further duty by
the limitation of 3"our enlistment, and while your hearts were
yearning for and anticipating a speedy return home, in this mo-
ment of expectancy your country claimed an extra service at your
hands. You felt that that claim was paramount. You obeyed
the call, were ready for the sacrifice ; }-ou went again to the front,
nobhr determining to do your duty. [Enthusiastic cheers..] No
words can adequately express the gratitude that lies deep in our
hearts. I congratulate you on your safe return to your homes.
As you lay aside the soldier's garb, and resume the costume and
occupations of peaceful life, in your own hearts you will find a

THE RETUIiX HOME. 187

gratifying approval of your course. We rejoice that Chelsea's
escutcheon remains untarnished. May that kind Providence which
has led you through the dangers of the conflict ever smile upon
you and your command ! [Cheers.]

Capt. Hanover replied, that his heart was so full he could not
express himself. He thanked them for their kind reception. A
thousand thoughts had possession Of him ; but he could give
expression to but one, — that Company H had ever been ready
to do their duty. [Cheers.] In the hour of trial no man quailed,
no man proved craven. God in his providence had brought them
back in safety. They felt deeply thankful. The joy at their re-
turn was reciprocal: they had had hand-shaking to the aching of
their bones. [A laugh.]

William G. Clark, Esq., proposed three cheers of welcome on
behalf of the citizens. Given with a tiger.

Sergeant Perry of Company H here stepped out from the ranks,
and said, " I propose three cheers for our good, kind-hearted
captain." They were given by the men, with " one more."

Thus ended the reception. The weather was rainy and unpleas-
ant, which abridged much of the out-door arrangements of the
committee.

It may be worthy of note that the returning twenty-seven bore
on their caps the distinctive mark of the Sixth Army Corps, — the
cross. They have a right to be a little proud of belonging to the
Army of the Potomac.

[All the nine-months men on the quota of Chelsea were after-
wards welcomed home at the City Hall.]

Some information upon which I had depended in reference
to the movements of a large detail of invalids from Newbern
to Boston by sea, at the time of our departure from North

183 BISTORT OF THE FORTT-TIIIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

Carolina, has failed me at the last moment. They were in
charge of Lieut. Turner and Assistant Surgeon Henry 0.
Marcy. There were probably twelve or fifteen, at least, of
our own company among them. They reached Chelsea a
day or two before any of the rest of us. after a pleasant
passage, unmarked by any incident, except that their vessel,
" The Consort," grounded in a fog on the beach at Scituate,
at which place they landed.

I desire to say, in conclusion, that a very unreasonable
prejudice rested upon the nine-months men from the outset,
in respect to the matter of bounties. With regard to the
large sums of money which we are credited with receiving, I
respectfully ask to have the facts reviewed in the light of
figures. My "bill," if I had been called upon to present
one, would have been as follows : —

Chelsea, Aug. 31, 18(33.

The State and National Governments to , Dr.

For one year's services, afc a low average of the earnings of

his calling at the time (§3 per day) ..... §750 00

Cr.

By Cash, and other items received: —

Local Bounty $200 00

State Aid, eleven months, at %i . . . 4-1 00

Monthly wages, eleven months, at S13 . . . 143 00

Rations, per week, §4 192 00

Clothing 40 00

610 00

Balance due to me §131 00

My earnings for several years after my return were from
eight hundred and fifty to nine hundred dollars. Board for
a married couple at the time was from eleven to twelve dol-
lars per week. The fact was, that every soldier with a family
to support needed, under the inflated prices of the war, every
cent that was available, and even then he would fall several
hundred dollars short of the ordinary income of the average
citizen. Among the social fallacies which the war exposed,
none were more conspicuous than this; namely, that multi-
tudes of respectable and presumably well-meaning people

THE RETURN HOME. IS'J

thought it not wrong to force large numbers of their fellow-
citizens into the army without equitable reward. Many men
who would have filled the State with their clamor, if they
had been drafted into the jury-box for a few weeks, at any
less price than three dollars a day, were unwilling that the
families of soldiers should have .more than that sum for a
week.

Some who read this will be surprised to learn that Adju-
tant-Gen. Schouler states, in his " Massachusetts in the Civil
War," that the average amount of bounty paid the seventeen
thousand nine-months men was a fraction over one hundred
dollars a man. These bounties were in great part reimbursed
to the local governments from the State treasury, to the
total amount of 82,300,921.

It is but fair, in this connection, for me to recall the fact
already noted, that all the Chelsea members of our company
— which was a very large majority of our whole number —
were brought into town from Readville, just before we left
the State, and dismissed in the Square, upon our own recog-
nizance, to report at the same place the next day ; and we
did it. Before the war closed, recruits were not, as a rule,
trusted out of sight after they got their bounty. I can my-
self certify to the fact that prudent citizens avoided bodies
of newly enlisted men as they passed through our cities under
the care of officers who marched by their sides with their
revolvers in their hands. The reason was obvious: pistol-
balls are no respecters of persons ; and a citizen was quite as
likely to be hit as a bolting recruit.

The change for the worse in the public mind, as the war
progressed, will be evident on comparing the following flier,
bearing date July 30, 1864, with the one dated August, 1SG2,
already quoted in my opening statements.

**1

190 BISTORT OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.Y.M.

WAR MEETING No. 3,

TO FINISH UP THE WORK,

WILL BE HELD IX THE CITY HALL,
On Saturday Evening, July 30 ['64],

AT 8 O'CLOCK.

§2,500 yet to be raised. One grand, united effort will do it.

There are 1,800 legal voters in this city who have not yet
contributed.

Come in, Enrolled Mex, pay $10 each, and make up
this balance.

Subscribers to the recruiting-fund are requested to pay in
the amount of their subscriptions at this meeting.

—

STAND BY THE FLAG!

Another flier, dated a month later, calls upon all citizens
to contribute five dollars each. A noticeable feature of both
of the circulars of 1864 is the fact that no appeal is made
to volunteer. It is money that is wanted at these last gather-
ings ; whereas at the former ones it was men.

In these remarks I do not mean to discredit the whole-
souled patriotism of many who enlisted during the last year
of the war, and took the bounties then offered, which in
some cases amounted to nine hundred dollars. My opinion
is, that every man who did his duty to the best of his ability
earned every cent he received. It was unfortunate that the
last war-meetings took such a mercenary aspect. The tongue

THE RETURN HOME. 191

should not have been divorced from the sword : the stirring
appeals to the patriotic sense of the community ought to
have been continued to the end. They were not inconsist-
ent with impending drafts or with large bounties. All these
elements were necessary, and should have been blended
together.

I have now reached the end of my history. Before closing,
it is due to the memory of the Chelsea Rifle Corps, out of
which our company originated, to acknowledge our indebted-
ness to them in more ways than can be recounted here. I
have the impression that we went to Readville with a larger
number of experts in company movements than any other
organization outside of Boston in the regiment. We were
followed by them to the scene of war with sympathetic cour-
tesies, showing that we were not forgotten, and cordially
welcomed home.

Our acknowledgments are also due to the ancient and
honorable military organization known originally as the Bos-
ton Light Infantry, Inter as the Second Battalion. Certain
elevated associations connected with their origin during the
last century; their motto, ".Death, or an honorable life;"
their emblem, a couchant " tiger," closely connected with
the characteristic savage pronunciation of the word with
which we sometimes made the jungles of North Carolina
ring, — were always present in some inspiring form sugges-
tive of patriotic obligation.

To the officers of the Second Battalion we were largely
indebted for instruction in regimental organization and drill.
Nearly all of them were men of high character. We had,
as has been intimated, the good fortune to be on the most
acceptable terms with our company officers of every grade.
So far as the field and staff were concerned, it is deserved
praise to say of all of them, that their bearing toward the
men of the regiment was fully consistent with their position,
and yet equally kind and considerate with the officers of our
company toward us of the ranks. They were of such habit-
ual self-command, that my feelings were not for an instant
ruffled by any harshness of manner, or hasty language, from
either of them during the whole term of service.

192 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

I cannot close without saving a word in the spirit of
charity toward the South. Their whole course, at the time
of the war, seemed to me to be one of pure diabolism ; but
my opinion in the course of the years that have since elapsed
has been modified.

The South can only be judged properly by those who are,
to some extent at least, diligent and candid students of the
social question.

The triumph of the Republican party in the election of
1860 demonstrated the determination of the North to restrict
slavery to the States where it already existed. The South
believed that their prosperity depended upon its extension.
A series of influences extending over more than two centu-
ries, going back, in fact, to the first cargo of slaves which
entered the James River, and connecting themselves inex-
tricably with race-antipathies, and with the excessively ouer-
ous conditions under which labor must be performed in the
South, had led them to believe that slavery was essential to
social order. Under these circumstances they resisted, with
the whole organized power of their communities, in every
. possible way, the imposition of a policy upon them from with-
out, which they honestly, and I must almost admit religiously,
believed to be fatal to them. Their position, in short, was
very similar to what ours would be if the great mass of the
working people of the North should attempt the abolition, by
the ballot, of our present industrial system, and should suc-
ceed in the effort, in spite of the wishes, and against the votes,
of the cultivated classes of society, united iu one compact
body in resistance.

In seceding, the South set itself not only against the North,
but really against Christendom. We were absolutely forced
to fight ; but advancing knowledge now compels the admis-
sion, that the situation of the South was essentially different
from that of the rest of the civilized peoples of the world.
The abolition of chattelship has passed the social question
one stage further along, leaving it still an open one, but so
comprehensive in its aspects as to relieve it from sectional
and race antagonisms. The lower classes of the whites of

THE RETUEX U021E.

193

the South are but a shade less ignorant and degraded than
the colored people. In their regeneration this fact must he
recognized, and the measures taken should be of such a char-
acter as to admit of application throughout the national
domain, wherever ignorance and poverty are cursing the
people.

We are struggling against disastrous odds in our present
reliance upon legislation to bring peace throughout our bor-
ders. The final solution of the social problem lies in the di-
rection of practical religion rather than politics. Chattelship
went into a bloody grave, because the issue was too momen-
tous aud intricate to be controlled or adjusted by the civil
power. The Church will finally, and as I truly believe at no
distant day, find the real grandeur of its mission in merging
law and love together in institutes which shall combine
the principles of the Decalogue with the utterances of the
Sermon on the Mount. The vast energies that found ex-
pression in the Christian and Sanitary Commissions will yet
be permanently devoted to the redemption of man from the
material and moral evils which still fester in human society.
Herbert Spencer, in his "Data of Ethics," joins the forces of
natural to those of revealed religion in expressing "the
humble hope and faith, that some reasoned form of the ethic?
of the Xew Testament may yet become the life-core of so-
ciety.*'

Something more than a year and a half after we returned,
the citizens of Chelsea thronged our City Hall, and offered a
joyous oblation of praise to Almighty God for the restora-
tion of peace. I have forgotten nearly all of the speakers,
and most of what was said ; but a leaflet of songs and hymns
which was distributed at the meeting is still at hand to
quicken my memory, and to revive some of the most grateful
and profound emotions which I ever experienced.

A stalwart colored man was present, one of the preachers
of Newbern, named George A. Rue. He sang with stento-
rian voice, and with a pathos which commanded all hearts,
the verses of the grand oratorio of "Egypt," which fol-
low : —

194 HISTORY OF THE FOBTY-THIED REGIMENT, M.V.M.

SOUND THE LOUD TIMBREL.

Shout the glad tidings, exultingly sing,
Jerusalem triumphs, Messiah is ting!

Chorus.

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!
Jehovah has triumphed: his people, are free.

Sing, for the pride of the tyrant is broken —
His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave !
Chorus.

How vain was their boasting! the Lord hath but spoken,
And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave.
Chorus.

Praise to the Conqueror! praise to the Lord !
His word was our arrow, his breath was our sword!
Chorus.

Who shall return to tell Egypt the story
Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride?
Chorus.

For the Lord hath looked out from his pillar of glory,
And all her brave thousands are dashed in the tide.
Chorus.

Te Deum Lauclarnus.

APPENDIX A.

HISTORICAL PORTION OF THE ADDRESS OF HON. R. C. WIN-
THROP ON THE PRESENTATION OF THE COLORS OF THE
FORTY-THIRD.

COL. CHARLES L. HOLBROOK, — You have been honored
with the command of a regiment which has been enlisted
under the auspices of the old Boston Light Infantry, and which
has recognized its filial relations to that corps by calling itself
" The Tiger Regiment." The officers and members of the Boston
Light Infantry, past and present, and of the Second Battalion, of
which it has recently formed a part, have accordingly desired to
manifest their regard for j-our command by some substantial and
visible token, which may accompany you on your tour of patri-
otic service, and which may serve to remind you that there are
those at home who will watch your movements with an eager in-
terest and a jealous pride, and whose hearts will be with you in
every hour of prosperous or adverse fortune which awaits you, —
whether of endurance or of struggle, of tribulation or of triumph.
Sir, I need hardly recall in this presence the history of that old
corps, whose familiar designation you have adopted, and whose
character may seem in some sort committed to your keeping.
You yourself, certainly, — who have risen to the successive com-
mand of a regiment in peace, and now of a regiment in war,
after so long and honorable a service in its ranks, — must know
its history by heart. You have not forgotten how it sprung into
existence just four and sixty years ago, in that memorable year
17'J.*j, when our infant republic was menaced, and more than men-
aced, b}- the madness of revolutionary France, and when it seemed
as if that gallant and generous nation which had done so much to
aid us in establishing our independence, and whose arms had so

196 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.

recently been united with our own in the crowning and consum-
mate glory of Yorktown, were about to be made the instrument of
a despotic directory in subjecting our youthful energies to a cruel
and perhaps fatal test. Our own John Adam3 — John Yankee he
was sometimes called — was then seated in the executive chair ;
and the august and venerated Washington, having finished a career
of military and civil service which has no parallel in the annals
of mankind, had nobly consented to waive all considerations of
previous rank, or present dignity and ease, and to assume the sub-
ordinate position of lieutenant-general of the provisional armies
of the United States. The pulse of patriotism, at that hour as at
this, beat high throughout the land, and every bosom was ani-
mated with the same desire to do something for the defence of the
country, which is burning at this moment in every heart around
me. It was then, that, the young men of Boston having united
in one of those patriotic addresses which were among the peculiar
features of the period, a reply was received from the President,
containing those memorable words, "To arms, to arms, my young
friends ! "

To that appeal, which was publicly read at Faneuil PI all by
the first elected commissioned officer of the corps, Ensign Francis
J. Oliver, the establishment of the Boston Light Infantry was the
immediate practical response.

You have not forgotten, sir, the solemn agreement which was
forthwith adopted among the fundamental articles of its constitu-
tion,— "that every man should pledge himself to support at all
hazards his country, and the government which protects him, and
that, unless commanded, he will never quit his standard till forced
from it by an honorable death," — a pledge which was afterwards
inscribed upon that standard itself in the simpler and more compact
phraseology of " Death, or an honorable life."

Sir, as I have looked many a time and oft on that old motto
emblazoned on the colors or accoutrements of our corps in those
piping times of peace when I had the honor of being one of its
officers, I have thought to myself that the sentiment was perhaps
rather superfluously stern and solemn ; and that so little proba-
bility was there that it would ever again become applicable to any
circumstances which could arise in our free and happy land, that
it might better be changed for something less heroic and defiant;
But I rejoice this day that it never was changed. I rejoice that no

APPENDIX A, 197

false confidence of our own, and no flippant ridicule of others, ever
induced us to obliterate that time-honored legend from our banner
or from our breasts. The day and the hour have at length arrived
when we comprehend and appreciate its full significance, — " Death,
or an honorable life." You can go forth to the field of duty under
no more appropriate or impressive motto, endeared to }-ou, as it
will be, by so many memories of the past, and breathing, as it
does, the precise spirit which should animate the present. Adopted
with a view to sustain the civil authority of John Adams and the
military lead of George Washington, it will ever be associated
with their noble names and glorious examples, and cannot fail to
inspire you with something of that devoted constancy and courage
in the defence of our Union, which they so signally displayed in
establishing it.

It was in the spirit of this pledge and this motto, that our old
corps, at their dinner at Concert Hall, after their first public
parade, on the 18th of October, 1798, gave utterance to their
earliest recorded toast : " The United States of America : as they
have drawn the sword of justice with reason, may they never
sheathe it with disgrace ! " 0 sir, if, at that festal board at which
our honored first commander, Daniel Sargent, presided, and
around which were gathered more than one of those who bore the
names aucl the blood of the patriot-mechanic, Paul Revere, and
the patriot-statesman, James Otis, and the patriot-martyr, Joseph
Warren, — for each one of these illustrious men had a son, or a
nephew, or a near relative, on our original roll, — if, in the midst of
that festal scene, a vision of this day and this hour could have been
unrolled before the eyes of those ardent and patriotic volunteers
of '93, with what mingled grief and pride, with what contending
emotions of agony and exultation, would they not have contem-
plated it! — grief and agony, that the grand triumphal arch of
Constitutional Union, which it had cost so much toil and treasure '
and precious blood to construct and cement, was so soon to be
assailed, and threatened with overthrow, by an unnatural and an
unholy rebellion, — pride and exultation, that, when that dark day
should arrive, the noble battalions of patriotic young men should
be heard responding, as they had responded to another President's
appeal. " To arms, to arms ! " and should be seen mustering, and
marching forth to the defence of the country and the support of
the government, under the influence of their example, and under
the very motto of their banner.

19S HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIliD REGIMENT, 3LV.M.

In view of such a scene as this, destined in the decrees of a
mysterious Providence to occur while at least one survivor of their
patriotic band is still living to witness it, — in view of such a scene
as this, could it then have been unfolded to their aching sight,
with what renewed fervor, with what redoubled emphasis, with
what reiterated cheers, would they have responded to that first
toast, and that original pledge, "-Death, or' an honorable life!"
"The United States of America: they have drawn the sword of
justice with reason : may they never sheathe it with disgrace ! "

I think it requires no stretch of imagination to conceive, that,
if the founders of our corps had been initiated into the mysteries
of a certain unearthly sound which has almost become an institu-
tion with their successors, there would have been added to those
cheers more than one tiger-growl.

Nor, Mr. Commander, will this name of Tiger, which you have
adopted from the more recent history of our corps as the distinc-
tive designation of your regiment, be without its own peculiar
significance, now that your martial exercises are to be transferred
from the parade-ground to the battlefield. There are those around
me who remember how often, in years long past, we have recalled
at our anniversary festivals those familiar lines of the immortal
dramatist : —

" In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But, when the blast of v. ar blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger."

Little did we dream in those hours of recreation, that we should
ever have occasion to apply those lines to any exigency more serious
than the skirmish or sham-right of a militia muster. But we find
them rising to our lips this day in all the solemn earnestness and
stern severity in which they were first put by the great poet into
the mouth of the monarch-hero of Agincourt. We feel that they
are the very words fur the hour, embodying the exact idea of that
quick, sharp, strenuous, and overwhelming onset, which alone, so
far as human eyes can reach, and human instruments are concerned,
— would to Heaven we could see any other way ! — which alone
can bring this deplorable and dreadful war to an early and suc-
cessful conclusion.

APPENDIX B.

ROSTER OF THE COMPANIES COMPOSING THE FORTY-THIRD
REGIMENT, M.V.M.

[Lieuts. Fi/etcuep. cf Company K, an'l Sciioli.'ER of Company P, joined the expedition
to Charleston, B.C.]

COMPANY A — AT LARGE.

Henry J. Hallgreen, Captain.

George ChadLourne, First Lieut.

Lucius A. Wheelock, Second Lieut.

James A. Blancbard, " "

Thomas R. Appleion, First Serg.

A. S. Farquharson, Sergeant.

Charles I. Crabe, "

Robert B. Palfrey,

J. Horace Kent, "

Horace D. Mack, Corporal.

E. F. Simmon?, "

Frederic D. Elagg, "

Charles M. Cook,

Edwin T. Nash,

S. II. Burroughs, "

Charles A. Rice, "

John R. Coz/.ens, "

James E. Oilman,

Frank E. Atkinson, Musician.

George II. Pierce, "

Hiram F. Hilton, Wagoner.

P1UVATES.

Allen, John.
Allen, John, 2d.
Allen, Patrick.

Burgess, Robert.
Brennan, Dennis F.
Balch, George E.
Bacon, Frederic P.
Billings, J. Quincy.
Bly, Charles F.
Bailey, Martin, jun.
Burke, Joseph J.
Beckler, Frank M.
Brawn, James.
Bartlett, John.
Brooks, Richard.
Callahan, Dennis J.
Chisholm, Alexander W.
Coe, James A.
Considine, Michael.
Carpenter, James R.
Crabe, William S.
Conlan, Bernard.
Coles, Jacob.
Caloney, James.
Dunn, John W.
Dilloway, William H.
Dennison, Albert E.
Dodsworth, George.
Davis, William.

200 HISTORY OF THE FOBTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 2I.Y.M.

COMPANY A — Concluded.

Foley, John W.
Finn, Thoma3 F.
Field, Frederic A.
Flaherty, Patrick.
Feeuey, James.
Grace, Thomas.
Grace, Joseph.
Gowell, Sylvester C.
Grady, Albert.
Hall," Thomas H.
Hobson, Robert.
Howard, Nichols.
Hutchinson, Thomas.
Harlow, James.
Harwood, Otis F
Henderson, Thomas.
Johnson, James.
Johnson, George T.
Kingston, George.
Felling, Charles.
Kimball, Frank.
Kenney. James L.
Keller, James E.
Lenhurst, John.
Leroy, Jame3.
Muffin, Patrick.
Morris, John.
McLaughlin, Thomas J.
McDevitt, Hugh.
Mooney, Michael J.
Mellen, Henry.
McAuliffe, John.

Murphy, William.
Nason, William J.
Nugent, John.
O'Conner, James A.
Oremay, Francis.
Pendergast, William.
Petterson, John.
Rice, Jerome F.
Rider, William H. H.
Roberts, Watkins W.
Russell, William.
Robinson, James.
Reed, Rudolph.
Riley, John.
Shanahan, Michael.
Sprague, William W.
Smyths, Wayland R.
Smith, John W.
Sabin, Ralph J.
Shaw, George.
Sullivan, David.
Tinsnni, James.
Trafton, Charles A.
Vial, Samuel H.
Walsh, John E.
Welsh, James.
Wylie, Charles.
Wilson, Henry.
Wilson, George.
Wilson. William.
Wiley, Emery.
Young, George A.

COMPANY B — AT LARGE.

Edward G. Quincy, Captain.
William Jordan, First Lieut.
John C. Sanborn, Second Lieut.
James M. Dunn, First Sergeant.
Rol<ert E. O'Brien, Sergeant.
Philip Doian, "

Edward H. Melius,
Rufus M. Eastern, "

John Q. Bicknell, Corporal.

Charles W. Bean, Corporal.

George Goodale, "

Charles Arnold, .

Thomas Stoddard, "

J. Henry Fearing, "

Luther W. Bixby, "

Pierce J. Babbington, Musician.

Edward D. Barton, "

APPENDIX B.

201

COMPANY B — Continued.

PRIVATES.

Abbot, Hiram E.
Boodnee, John.
Bicknell, Ansel F.
Burns, Henry.
Bacon, C. H.
Baker, John.
Carmichael, John R.
Clark, Horace.
Christian, Henry.
Cummings, Robert M.
Campbell, James.
Corkery, Patrick.
Crane, Silas B.
Clark, Jonathan R.
Conway, Patrick.
Conroy, John.
Casey, James.
Carle, John.
Carson, James.
Casey, Michael.
Denton, William B.
Dow, James H.
Dennison, Jerry.
Dailey, Michael F.
Davis, John.
Durgin, Daniel.
Doyle, James.
Davy, John.
Dow, Daniel.
Fisher, Edward A.
Foley, Cornelius.
Foley, Patrick.
Fontaine, S.
Friery, Richard.
Fay, John.
Green, Patrick.
Gavin, John.
Ilijrgins, xVndrew.
Hill, William G.
Hayden, Hosea B.
Henius, Max.
Hollis, Lemuel.
Hollis, Albert O.

Hennesey, Edward.
Hanley, John M.
Homey, Thomas.
Howe, George A.
Hennison, William.
Johnson, William.
Jackson, William.
Kearns, John.
Leonard, Charles B.
Leyden, Daniel.
Lawrence, George.
Mower, William W.
Mower, George A.
Marks, M.
Murphy, John.
Morgan, Cornelius.
Maher, William.
Masters, Edward.
Milan, John.
Newton, Autipus, jun.
Norton, Shubael M.
O'Brien, Cornelius.
Oakley, George.
Ogden, John.
Pool, John F.
Peacock, Lewis.
Palmer, George W.
Rowe, William H.
Roe, Patrick M.
Rowley, Thomas.
Ricker, Alpheus.
Reed, George.
Snow, Jacob C.
Sylvester, Gideon Y.
Schenkle, Antoine.
Sprague, George H.
Smith, James.
Somers, Henry G.
Sullivan, D. J.
Savers, William.
Tangney, Daniel.
Taylor, William II.
Troupe, George H.
Troupe, Charles A. S.

202 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, M.V.M.
COMPANY B — Concluded.

Thorp, William R.
Turner, John.
Williams, Morrill.
Wild, John F.
Wallace, Craninore.
Wallace, Frank.

Winslow, Henry.
Woodman, Edward.
Walker, Samuel.
Wilson, John M.
Wilson, James.

COMPANY C — AT LARGE.

William B. Fowle, jun., Captain.
Augustine Sanderson, First Lieut.
John F. Thayer, Second Lieut.
William F. liayne, First Sergeant.
Joseph E. Fiske, "

Lucius A. Wheelock, " '
James McCallum, Sergeant.
George 0. Sanderson, "
Obed M. Fish,
Joseph H. Dewing, "
Charles Everbeck, Corporal.
William S. Friend, "
Charles H. Kelly,
John E. McGlinn,
Edward F. Littlefield, "
John Peck, "

George W. A. Langley, "
John Curran, "

Eugene A. Holton, Musician.
Robert M. McCloud, "

PRIVATES.

Ambrose, Robert.
Acton, John T.
Baker, Theodore L.
Boynton, Richard F.
Belcher, Charles H.
Bell, Solomon L.
Bullard, William P.
Bryant, Snow.
Bent, Thomas D.
Cameron, John.
Cooper, Hugh.
Clough, Leonard N.
Copelaud, James.

Carven, Patrick H.
Donhiser, John.
Davis, Charles M.
DuBois, Lewis.
Donavan, Michael.
Eccles, George.
Flock, Charles.
Ford, John B.
Frye, Samuel G.
Flagg, George W.
Fessenden, Albert.
Fitzgerald, Andrew M.
Guyot, Joseph.
Grady, Edward F.
Gormley, William.
Gilbert, Clinton.
Gove, AVilliam B.
Gassett, Oscar.
Gardner, Henry J.
Grous, Daniel.
Hardy, William H.
Hunting, Emery F.
Howland, Allen.
Hawes, Solomon L.
Hussey, Charles II.
Johnson, George W.
Knapp, Cyrus W.
Kuhlig, Julius.
Kinsler, Charles C.
Keating, William J.
Knight, Henry D.
Kingsbury, William II.
Levy, Morris.
Lewis, George.
Murphy, James J.

APPENDIX B.

COMPANY C

McFay, John.
Maguire, Hugh.
Morris, Charles C.
Marshall, John P.
McLane, William H.
Morgan, Walter J.
McCann, Jeremiah G.
Newman, Frederick.
Nolan, Andrew.
O'Connell, Timothy
Oakes, Joseph.
Phillips, George H.
Penniman, Isaac H.
Pratt, Francis L.
Russell, William L.
Robinson, Edmund B.
Ropes, Charles A.
Short, Thomas.
Soule, Marcellus.

COMPANY D
Thomas G. Whytal, Captain.
Edward A. Sumner, First Lieut.
James Schouler, Second Lieut.
Cornelius A. Taft, First Sergeant.
John E. Webster, Sergeant.
Alvin Fuller, '«

Joseph II. Lathrop, "
Francis W. Haynes, "
Charles B. Fessenden, "
Elbridge P. Boyden, Corporal.
William Chickering, "
John McDonald,
Emelius A. Everett, "
G. Phineas Guild,
Isaac A. Cox, "

Samuel D. Cobb, "

Charles D. Marcy,
Melvin A. Galucia, Musician
Frank U. Hayward, "

PIUVATE3.

Alexander, William II.
Babbitt, Willard.

— Concluded.

Sherman, John S.
Severance, Charles R.
Simmons, John S.
Seagrave, Gilbert H.
Staniford, John W.
Seele'y, Christopher.
Tuttle, Abram D.
Tucker, Henry S.
Taylor, James H.
Towers, William F.
WTard, Joseph T.
Weeks, Charles H.
Wisner, George P.
Whitney, William H.
Wilder, George S.
White, John.
West, William A.
White, Henry B.
Zittle, Koncart.

DEDHAM.

Babbitt, Samuel M.
Barrett, William F.
Baker, Addison G.
Baker, Charles A.
Broad. Nathaniel W.
Ball, James E.
Carroll, William F.
Carter, Frank.
Clifton, John D.
Collins, James.
Cox, Patrick.
Cox, Samuel H.
Coy, Albert M.
Cheney, Rufus F.
Clements, William H.
Lagan, Patrick: •
Ed'mands, George W. S.
Ellis, Lewis.
Fairbanks, Albert F.
Fairbanks, Benjamin A.
Fairbanks, James G.
Fisher, Edwin E.
Gay, William II.

204 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD BEGIMENT, M.Y.M,

COMPANY D— Concluded.

Guild, Clarence M.

Guild, Joseph.
Guild, Charles J.
Guild, Edward W.
Golden, Michael.
Guy, Henry M.
Hann, Jno. A.
Houghton, Joseph.
Hathaway, R. Ellis.
Howard, Martin.
Hooker, George E.
Hooker, James B.
Hartshorn, Charles E.
Hawkins, James J.
Ide, Francis P.
Johnson, Willard L.
Kieman, John.
Lincoln, Herbert R.
McGlone, Patrick.
Marsh, William.
Morse, A. Mason.
Morse, Charles H.
Morse, Josiah E.
Morse, Sauford O.
Meagher, Patrick.
Nichols, John H.
Perkins, Charles M.
Pond, Charles E.
Pratt, Edwin.

Rhoades, George A.
Rhoades, George L.
Richardson, James H.
Richards, Bennett 0.
Randall, William II.
Sha'pleigh, James F.
Shapleigh, Alfred M.
Shapleigh, Nathan E.
Sheridan, William N.
Smith, George N.
Stone, George M.
Soule, Francis E.
Shackley, Charles H.
Shaw, Henry A.
Talbot, Nathaniel H.
Tibbetts, Joseph N.
Tibbetts, William R.
Tucker, James.
Tracy, Andrew.
Towle, Horace E.
Temporly, Thomas.
Urry, James.
Webb, Albert G.
Weeks, Henry.
Wooliey, Edwin A.
Wood, James M.
Woods, John S.
Wight, John K.
Wooliey, Frederick J.

COMPANY E — ORLEANS.

Henry Doane, Captain.
Joseph W. Paine, First Lieut.
George H. Nickerson, "
Charles M. Upham, Second Lieut.
Irving Emerson, First Sergeant.
John W. Atwood, Sergeant.
Joshua S. Sparrow, "
Henry A. Whittemore, "
William H. Ilarley, "
George H. Collins, Corporal.
Charles G. Rodman, "
James B. Cook, "

John A. Gross, Corporal.
Charles E. Atwood, "
Luther Crowell, "
Alonzo N. Bearse, "
Morton Fuller, "

Joseph L. Kenrick, Musician.
Samuel Levi, "

PRIVATES.

Ba.^sett, William II. H.
Baker, Winslow.
Brown, Charles.

APPENDIX B.

205

COMPANY E — Concluded.

Brown, Francis.
Crowed, John W.
Cook, David.
Connelly, John.
Casey, John M.
Cahoon, Thomas Y.
Cahoon, Benjamin S.
Chase, John S.
Crabbe, Joseph.
Clark, David P.
Connell, James G.
Drown, Alvin L.
Dow, John N.
Dill, Albert F.
Donovan, Patrick.
Doyle, Lawrence.
Eldredge, George.
Eldredge, Ephraim.
Emery, Cyrus.
Ellis, Alvarado C.
Ebrenstan, Mas.
Freeman, Charles S.
Freeman, Gideon II.
Finn, John W.
Freeman, Jonathan S.
Grozier, John P.
Higgiris, Thomas E.
Higginns, Sparrow S.
Horton, John M.
Hayden, Caleb.
Harding, David.
Hammond, Franklin D.
Hamilton, James S.
Hamilton, Josiah J.
Hamilton, James T.
Hopkins, Daniel P.
Hopkins, William M.
Higgins, Elisha A.
Howes, Samuel II.
Illingsworth, Henry.

Johnson, Charles.
Kenrick, Benjamin C.
Kelley, George F.
Heeler, Owen.
Lee, James W.
Lyman, Storrs L.
Lewis, Horatio F.
Lockwood, George.
Mayo, Andrew S.
McVea, David M.
Paine, Henry R.
Paine, Amasa E.
Parker, Thomas H. E.
Powers, John.
Ray, John G.
Rogers, Joshua N.
Rogers, Benjamin.
Rogers, Francis B.
Bobbins, Samuel.
Rich, Jeremiah H.
Rogers, Ensign.
Smith, Daniel P.
Snow, Samuel.
Snow, Isaiah.
Schilling, William.
Sullivan, William.
Small, Joshua.
Smith, Simeon L.
Snow, Freeman.
Silver, Nathan B.
Smith, Isaac Y.
Taylor, George A.
Townsend, James A.
Tripp, Francis M.
Tripp, Edwin.
Verge, Thomas K.
Wilson, Charles.
Young, Henry, 2d.
Young, William II.

206 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-TEIRD REGIMENT, M.V.1I.

COMPANY F — AT LARGE.

Charles W. Soule, Captain.
Henry S. Bates, First Lieut.
Nathan S. Oakrnan, Second Lieut.
SamuelJ. Simmons, First Sergeant.
William £. Thompson, Sergeant.
Dexter Grose, " ■

Peleg S. Sherman, "

Edwin Curtis, "

Peleg F. Clapp, Color-Bearer.
Charles \V. Sparrell, Corporal.
Thomas B. Whiting,
Edward H. Davis, "

Benjamin Brown, jun., "
Henry T. Jenkins, "

Eleas A. Pratt, "

John E. O. Prouty,
Joseph W. Morris, "

Jotham W. Bailey, "

Samuel Chamberlain, Musician.
George II. Stevens, "

Thomas Alden, Wagoner.

PRIVATES.

Alden, James, jun.
Beal, Walter M.
Bailey, Charles W.
Baker, James E.
Bates, George S.
Bouve, William J.
Brown, Henry L.
Brown, Charles E.
Curtis, George W.
Curtis, George M.
Curtis, Joseph H.
Church, William, jun.
Carver, Israel IT.
Cudworth, Elijah F.
Clapp, Henry O.
Damon, Israel D.
Damon, Alfred C.
Damon, Virgil.
Doherty, John.
Ewell, Daniel E.
Ford, Thomas P.

Falvey, Edward A.
Grose, Henry A.
Grose, Charles.
Gardner, Stephen N.
Hobart, Alonzo C.
Hatch, Edward.
Hat'eh, Charles R.
Hatch, Samuel F.
Hatch, Calvin 0.
Hatch, John F.
Hatch, George A.
Holmes, Samuel.
Hooper, Charles A.
Hyland, Thomas W.
Harrington, Lorenzo D.
Hewett, Asa W.
Keene, John A.
Lawrence, Thomas R.
Lewis, John W.
Little, William B.
Litchfield, Francis M.
Litchfield, Milton G.
Litchfield, Otis.
Litchfield, Liba W.
Litchfield, Warren, jun
Mann, Howard F.
Mann, Albert G.
Mann, Charles D.
Merritt, William O
Osborn, George T.
Peterson, Phineas P.
Pool, Benjamin B.
Pratt, Bryant C.
Perry, George \\r.
Porter, William S.
Raymond, Thomas A.
Randall, Josiah.
Spencer, John II.
Simmons, Jonathan J.
Sherman, Warren H.
Sherman, Joseph.
Studley, Alfred II.
Southard, Francis E.
Sylvester, Gideon Y.

jtm.

APPEXDIX B. 207

COMPANY I

1 — Concluded.

Thomas, Lucius.

Vinal, Amos.

Thayer, Lucius.

Vining, William H.

Tyler, Franklin.

Williamson, Peter.

Turner, John H.

Williamson, William.

Turner, Henry A.

Williamson, Andrew J.

Tolman, George S.

Woodward, George W.

Thomas, Josiah.

Williamson, Calvin, jun.

Vinal, George 0.

Wright, James A.

Vinal, Setb H.

COMPANY G-

- ABINGTON.

Everett Lane, Captain.

Cushing, Urban W.

Josiah Soule, jun. "

Curtis, George E.

Lysander Poole, First Lieut.

Curtis, Warren C.

Joseph B. Warne, Second Lieut.

Curtis, Samuel G. *

Brainard Cashing, First Sergeant.

Curtis, Edmund B.

Joseph B. Merritt, Sergeant.

Chubbuck, Charles H.

Ansel B. Randall,

Caplice, Maurice.

Anson V. Whiting, "

Carney, Richard.

Alexander Blaisdell, "

Crook, Patrick.

John Burrell, 2d, Corporal.

Conlau, Edward.

E. Walter Burbank, "

Church, Robert.

Shepard F. Eaton, "

Connell, Cornelius.

Joshua S. Grey, "

Crowell, Joel.

James B. Studley, "

Connell, James 0.

Daniel G. Wheeler, "

Chubbuck, Hosea.

William M. Walker, "

Damon, Washington.

Edward G. Hunt, "

Damond, PLam.

Frank Granville, Musician.

Donovan, Daniel 0.

Gustavus E. Lane, "

Doane, Simeon K.

Davis, Joseph W .

privates.

Elmes, William.

Arnold, William D.

Fenno, James A.

Burrell, James H.

Fuller, Henry E.

Burrell, Benjamin A.

Foster, Lorenzo D.

Burrell, Charles M.

Gammon, Horatio II.

Briggs, Nathaniel B.

Green, Patrick.

Briggs, Joseph W.

Groce, William R.

Beal, David.

Gurney, James S.

Beal, Nathan A.

Hook, Charles 0.

Beal, Franklin.

Hughes, Robert J.

Bates, Edwin, jun.

Harwell, Elisha.

Baldwin, Elza.

Hurley, Patrick.

Bisbee, Zenas M.

Hunt, Joseph W.

203 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT, 3I.V.M.

COMPANY G — Concluded.

Hallet, Charles G.
Hobert, John T.
Joyce, Leander R.
Kennedy, Hugh.
Keuney, Elijah F.
Lane, Josiah W.
Lane, Charles H.
Lewis, George H.
Lowell, Henry H.
Loud, Samuel M.
Mitchell, Robert.
Mansur, Andrew J.
Mullaly, James.
McMorrow, John.
MoMorrow, Michael.
Phillips, Gideon B.
Poole, William W.
Payne, Elbridge.
Rush, John.

Rogers, Andrew.
Studley, Andrew H.
Studley, George S.
Sullivan, Daniel F.
Shaw, Micah R.
Shanr, Otis R.
Smith, Zenas.
Stoddard, George W.
Stoddard, David.
Shurtleff, Solomon II.
Sullivan, Eugene.
Tower, James A.
Tangney, James.
Turner, Luther.
Warner, Henry.
Wetherbee, Joseph M.
Wheeler, Elijah H.
Young, Edwin R.

COMPANY H — CHELSEA. See p. 19.
COMPANY I — CAMBRIDGE.

George 0. Tyler, Captain.
Robert Torrey, jun.. First Lieut.
Oliver H. Webber, Second Lieut.
Gustavus A. Smart, First Sergeant.
Leonard Arkerson, jun., Sergeant.
Daniel A. Buckley, "

William J. Dowd, «

Leonard B. Wilder, "

William H. Arkerson, Corporal.
Charles A. Patch,
John J. Dowd, "

James K. Odell, "

Martin J. Keating, "

Charles E. Herbert, "

Ruel W. Hanscom, "

Thomas Lackey, "

William F. Sparrow, "

Benjamin Calley, Musician.
Alexander II. Clapp, "
Mark J. Fulsom, Wagoner.

PRIVATES.

Adams, Charles A.
Ashworth, Charles.
Boyle, Henry F.
Barley, John.
Brooks, Sager.
Burke, Jame3.
Clapp, Edward J.
Casey, James.
Clark, Thomas.
Cummings, Patrick R.
Croniu, Daniel.
Campbell, Edward F.
Cane, Lewis.
Currier, George W.
Collins, John J.
Casey, Michael.
Christie, Addison G.
Colzi, Pietro.
Doherty, Michael.

APPEXDJX B.

209

COMPANY

Daley, Michael J.
Davis, Daniel.
Dotan, Matthias J.
Dolan, William.
Dowd, Christopher.
Dallenger, Samuel W.
Doherty, Robert.
Fallen, Daniel.
Frizell, Joseph P.
Ford, George R.
Fellows, DeWitt C.
Fisher, Edward P.
Ford, Howard J.
Gallagher, Owen.
Gallagher, Patrick.
Grammo, John.
Grammo, Francis.
Geier, John.
Green, William.
Glenn, Michael.
Hawkes, John.
Hewins, John A.
Ilardman, James J.
Hamilton, John.
Jackson, David A.
Klidelin, George.
Kane, Michael.
Laha, John.
Lakin, James T.
Lynch, Thomas.
Linney, John.
Leary, Michael.
Laredo, Luigi.

Concluded.
McDonough, Joseph R.
McNally, Frank.
Moesehlin, John F.
Murray, Timothy.
Mahoney, Jeremiah J.
Mclntire, John B.
Norris, William H.
O'Neil, Thomas.
O'Toy, Hugh.
Prescott, Charles E.
Paradi, Charles.
Park, Charles T.
Quirk, James W.
Quinn, Michael.
Quinn, Maurice.
Redfern, John H.
Ryan, John A.
Rollins, Albert W.
Rollins, Francis E.
Rorke, Joseph H.
Rhuling, E. Frederick.
Storer, William.
Stone, William A.
Sarsfield, Patrick.
Snow, Russell L.
Smith, John N.
Strickland, John.
Turner, Jonathan G.
Warren, Edward E.
Williams, Edward.
Williams, George S.
WTlson, William F.
Young, Stepheu.

COMPANY K — AT LARGE.

J. Emery Round, Captain.
Lucius P. Kimpton, First Lieut.
John W. Fletcher, Second Lieut.
Albert A. Day, First Sergeant.
James Emerson, Sergeant.
Edward O. Fisher, "
George W. Nichols, "
James A. Coles, - "
Daniel B. Lovell, Corporal.

! Martin V. B. Dunham, Corporal.
John N. Collier,
Benjamin F. Stone,
Joseph C. Marshall,
Warren T. Heillman,
Alfred A. Presbrey,
George W. Fearing,
Caleb F. Bates, Musician.
Minot S. Crane, "

210 HISTORY OF THE FORTY-THIRL REGIMENT, M.V.M.

COMPANY K

George E. Frederick, Wagoner.

PRIVATES.

Beekman, Cyrus A.
Bliss, Warrence.
Brown, Joseph.
Bryant, James A.
Boswell, Joseph P.
Birch, Joseph.
Campbell, Thomas M.
Cammitt, Warren.
Christian, James.
Chubbuck, Henry H.
Cole, Ebenezer.
Collins, John.
Cooke, Oria C.
Copeland, Cyrus F.
Cotton, Frederick W.
Coiteux, Joseph.
Crane, Samuel S.
dishing, Henry F.
Cushing, Loring H.
Cully, Eli.
Durant, Charles H.
Durr, Thomas E.
Dunham, Sheperd.
Dal ton, John.
Evans, Isaac S.
Farnum, Samuel II.
Ferris, Job T.
Fiske, Noble.
Fitz, Edward S.
Fullerton, George II.
Goodwin, Isaac F.
Gurley, Jacob B.
Hadley, Albert F.
Hawes, John A.
Hayward, Henry J.
Henderson, William.
Harlow, Aaron S.
Ilersey, Hollis.
Hillman, Beriah T.
Hough, George H. S.
Hunt, Ira J.

Concluded.
Hurst, William.
Hyde, William H.
Hutchins, Cornelius W.
Johnson, James P.
Johnson, James.
Jones, Harvey.
Keough, Henry J.
Koff, Frederick.
Livingston, William A.
Loring, Peter.
Lunt, George W.
Mayhew, John W.
McKenna, Daniel.
McCullough, James.
Meara, Sherman T.
Morgan, Roscoe G.
Miller, Jacob.
Mason, Thomas.
Moore, Fitz H.
Oakes, George EI.
Oliver, Henry A.
Perry, John S.
Pratt, Thomas W.
Puffer, Jonathan.
Rawlings, James D.
Remick, Augustus.
Itemick, Henry A.
Robinson, Charles S.
Rogers, John R.
Souther, Thomas.
Souther, Samuel C.
Spear, John B.
Sumner, Louis N.
Smith, Joseph.
Taft, Andrew.
Tidd, Joseph S.
Tilton, Charles \V.
Tower, Charles.
Thayer, Otis E.
Tilley, James B.
Wilson, Eliphalet II. S.
Walker, Albert.
Weeden, Warren D.
Watson, James.

5 6 f-

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Texts

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Reminiscences of military service in the Forty-third regiment, Massachusetts infantry, during the great Civil war, 1862-63"

See other formats